大象传媒

I was still at school when news of victory came in the May of 1945, and my family and i travelled to London to see the Ropyal Familycome out on to the Balcony of Buckingham palace. We were swept along shouting and laughing, like a great river of rejoicing.

But it was different on VJ day in August. The school had organised a 'Harvest camp' to help the farmers gather the produce which would otherwise have rotted in the rather wet summer. So we were under canvas, in a field in Sussex, far away from friends and family when the news came through that Japan had capitulated.

My friend and i were stooking corn sheaves when the farmer came out to tell us that we could have the rest of the day off, to celebrate. Back in the tent, we listened as the rain began to fall, becoming more and more insistent all the time. By four o clock it was like evening , dark soggy and miserable. Duck - boards were put down so that we could get to the tent where tjhe food was laid out - unappetising and cold.

'What shall we do?' i asked. In the middle of a wet field somewhere in the depth of rural sussex there weren't many options. 'Lets go to bed early then', someone suggested. 'We can write letters home' and feeling rather like prisoners of war, it seemed like a sensible idea.

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