大象传媒

One morning my father Frank Jennings woke me up early. 鈥淐ome on get up, Hitler鈥檚 lost the war鈥�. When I asked him why , has he sued for peace he said no 鈥渉e鈥檚 marching into Russia this morning and it鈥檚 the biggest mistake he鈥檒l ever make鈥� and he was later proved right.

I remember clearly the day the war ended. We were expecting the end of the war and when we heard it announced officially on the radio it was magical. We couldn鈥檛 believe it. As the 8th May was my Mother鈥檚 birthday (Nellie Jennings) we had a double celebration. It certainly wasn鈥檛 a birthday she鈥檇 forget in a hurry.

All the locals from the village of Low Habberley where we lived and round about collected timber and that evening we had a huge bonfire in Habberley Lane near where Ferndale Housing Estate is now. Everybody was celebrating, drinking beer, smiling and having a right knees-up. It was an indescribable feeling.

For me it was a wonderful relief that it was over because I might have been called up on my eighteenth birthday which was on 6th July 1945. I was very relieved. I didn鈥檛 want to go to war. It was a day I鈥檒l never forget.

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Sue Broome of the CSV Action Desk at 大象传媒 Hereford and Worcester on behalf of Ron Jennings and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

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