大象传媒

In August 1945, Bill and I were camping at Over in Cambridgeshire. We were camped near a river, on the opposite bank of the river there was a pub called the "Pike and Eel"; you could pull yourself across the river on a ferry.

By this time Bill had a motorbike - a BMW 250 - but it was still very difficult to get petrol. However, a mixture of lighter fuel, paraffin and a littler petrol would work. So we would go to all the tobacconists to get as much Ronson petrol lighter fuel as we could.

Before we left Cambridgeshire we went into the town so that we could buy enough Ronson to get us home. We split up and went to separate tobacconists. In one of the shops, I was told that the War was over because we had dropped a bomb that had killed millions of people. When I met up with Bill I said that the War hadn't made people any different - they were making up stories saying that we had dropped a bomb on a city! I said that I didn't know where they got these ideas from - we dismissed the story.

We went back to the bike and took our time going home. When we got back we were met by my parents who were very upset because we hadn't returned home as soon as we had heard the War was over. We told them that we had not seen a newspaper or heard the wireless, so we didn't know.

The following day on the 16th August we marched up to London, we had very little money so we walked to The Strand (several miles) and joined the throng. It was a very hot day and we were very thirsty but we could not afford to buy a drink. The Bill saw a two-shilling piece lying on the ground as we were walking past Buckingham Palace. He bent down to pick it up and found a handful of coins! Somebody must have had a hole in their pocket. The crowd hust walked round Bill has he picked up the money. We had enough money to go to the "Waldorf Hotel" for tea.

Thus the War ended.

Bill and I got married in March 1946; Bill died in September 1999. We started our family and Bill offered himself for training to become a priest in the Church of England. To our joy he was accepted and ordained. A wish he had had, to my knowledge, long before he left school.

More stories from Beryl can be found at:

* A8577967 "Evacuation" (From London to Londonderry)

* A8594238 "The Unknown Warriors" (Tea at the "Waldorf")

Story: This story has been submitted to the People's War Site by Muriel Palmer (volunteer) of Age Concern Shropshire Telford & Wrekin on behalf of BD BERRY (author) and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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