大象传媒

The war ended in May and we all went into Croydon in the evening to hear the mayor deliver the announcement from the steps of the town hall, to mild excitement and some cheering. Everyone had two days holiday. The celebrations were tempered , not only by the memories of what had gone on before but because of the news of brutalities and the concentration camps which was coming through as Europe was freed. There was still fighting in the Far East and many people had relatives serving there and continuing anxieties about them. The occupying allied forces in Europe were still at risk; the fiance of of one my seniors was killed in June in Berlin by a sniper鈥檚 bullet.

VJ night in August was more memorable. My mother, my aunt, who was holidaying with us and I went to Trafalgar Square. We were with the crowds that squeezed through Admiralty Arch and swept on down the Mall to see George VI, Queen Elizabeth and the two princesses come out onto the palace balcony to wave and be cheered by the thousands below. There were still years of shortages, difficulties and re-adjustments ahead, but VJ day marked a turning point and the hope of a better future.

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