大象传媒

Peace at last!

In the early hours of the morning of 7 May 1945, peace came to a battered Europe. The Germans signed an instrument of unconditional surrender, and the war in the western hemisphere was over. It was announced that the end of the war would be celebrated on 13 May, VE Day. People all round the country would turn out in their millions to celebrate the end of five years of misery, hardship, death and destruction.

I was at boarding school in Surrey. There was, of course, great excitement and elation. One of the boys went down to the school chapel and rang the bell in celebration. The school sergeant major(in charge of PE and discipline) decided that even the end of the war did not merit this violation of the rules.(He, incidentally, had lost two sons in the conflict). He thundered down the road to apprehend the culprit. Fortunately, the miscreant had the wisdom to anticipate this and slipped out of the vestry door and disappeared into the grounds.

It was announced that those boys who had a relative within easy reach of the school could have the day off to join them. My mother was living in Devon, so I invented a meeting with an aunt in London, and departed with alacrity. (I actually had an aunt in London, working in the 'Citadel' at the Admiralty, but she was in no way inclined towards the sort of celebrations that I had in mind!)

I caught the train, which was full of excited people with the same intentions as me. Once I arrived in London, I immediately joined the cheering, laughing, hugging, kissing, dancing crowd, which completely filled the streets. It was exhilarating beyond measure.

I cannot remember having a drink that day, although I am sure that I managed to force my way through the struggling throng to the bar in a pub or two. The added bonus was that the beer was free!

The celebrations were continuous. The streets were full of ecstatically happy soldiers, sailors and airmen (and, of course, the women's services) of all the allied nations. Mingling with these were civilians, delighted that, at last, they could go to bed at night without fear of air attack, the hideous noise of falling bombs, the bark of anti-aircraft fire, the uneven throb, and sudden silence, of the 'buzz bombs' and the tremendous, unexpected explosions of the V2 rockets.

I joined the end of a line of 'dancers' in Trafalgar Square. We swept round the square, arms linked, legs kicking high, in one deliriously happy string. (Many years later, I spotted myself on a much-repeated newsreel shot, on the end of that line. Unfortunately, I was unable to record it, and would love to have a copy for the family records.)

I witnessed Churchill driving through the throng to lunch at the Palace, and heard his speech in the afternoon, broadcast to a hushed audience in the streets. He announced that the war in Europe would officially end at midnight, and his oft-quoted words rang out: "Advance Britannia. Long live the cause of freedom. God save the King!" This was greeted with a deafening cheer from the euphoric multitude.

He emerged in Whitehall, on the balcony of the Ministry of Health. The crowd cheered themselves hoarse, the Guards band struck up "For he's a jolly good fellow", to renewed cheering from the teeming throng. Winston then sang and conducted the crowd in 'Land of Hope and Glory'. Renewed cheering! It could seldom have been sung with such joy and sincerity.

Churchill also joined the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, to a rapturous welcome from the heaving mass in the Mall. (Humphrey Lyttleton trumpeted his personal fanfare through the Palace rails.)

I had to return to school, and so I caught an early evening train. I slept well that night.

The war against the Japanese in the Far East continued until the atom bomb brought it to an end. Austerity endured in the UK for many years. Rationing only fully ended in 1954. The devastated acres of our towns and cities took many years to rebuild.

However, the joy of being at peace was compensation enough for these difficulties.

The Germans had a well-known and oft-quoted saying to Allied prisoners on their capture: "For you .... ze voor is over!" they would sneer. Well, for them, the war really was over, and it was for me too!

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