大象传媒

This story has been written onto the 大象传媒 People's War site by CSV storygatherer Liz Norbury on behalf of Margaret Bunney. They fully understand the terms and conditions of the site.

I was a 15-year-old Cornish girl, and had never been to London. After VE Day, when the threat of German air attacks was over, my parents booked a week at the Strand Palace Hotel. (Cost: 25 shillings a night bed and breakfast for the three of us!)
Frantically packing to be ready to catch the Riviera from Truro by the next morning, my mother turned on the wireless at midnight to hear that a very powerful bomb had been dropped on Japan, causing terrible devastation, with the result that Japan had surrendered. The next day, August 15, the end of the war, would be celebrated as VJ Day.
This was my first long-distance railway journey, but it was uneventful until we got to Paddington. The station was crowded, and although we stood in a queue for some time, there was no hope of finding a taxi.
My father decided we must go by underground, a completely new experience for me. We must have looked like country bumpkins at the top of the escalator, because a soldier helped us with our heavy luggage.
We got off the train at Embankment station, and struggled through celebrating crowds up Villiers Street to the Strand, lugging our cases. We found our hotel, and after a meal, walked down the Mall towards Buckingham Palace. I had never seen so many people on a road. We had to squeeze our way along. There were bonfires in the road, and people were letting off fireworks, which, of course, had been banned during the war.
We finally got as far as the stone balustrade by the Victoria Memorial. Floodlights were turned onto the palace balcony, and the Royal Family came out. Princess Elizabeth was wearing her ATS uniform.
We returned to our hotel, and went to bed after an exciting day.

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