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This story has been added to The People’s War Website by CSV Volunteer Olivia Davey on behalf of the author Daphne Harris who understands the site’s terms and conditions.

My Husband-to-be came home on leave after four years abroad. He was in the B.I.S.N. Company as a navigator based in India. It was 1941. His journey home and been terminated by the ship hitting a magnetic mine three miles off Sheerness. The ship went down in minutes, and there was some loss of life. Philip was one of the lucky ones, although he did lose everything he owned. We were married in August and in December he left to go back to India. I did not see him again until 4 ½ years had passed.

Our son was born in ’42 and we lived in Sussex, until the last 15 months of the war when I joined my sister and another girl to share a house in Polperro. We all had husbands away and a child each. When V.E. Day came it was memorable in many ways. The first thought, one of relief in the hope that now we could look forward to our men returning sometime in the future. In my case, it turned out to be a bit longer because of the Jap war. A sobering thought that the P.O.W.S. in Burma would still have to endure their plight longer. And the many families who would not have their loved ones home ever. So mixed feelings on that day.

Going down to the village to do some shopping that morning there was a noticeable change in everyone I met. Little groups of people were smiling and greeting each other. Perhaps, like me, they felt at last, they could begin to plan their future.

In the evenings, we stood the children at the windows so that they could see Polperro lit up, for the first time in their young lives. It was a magical sight. Not a trace of Blackout to be seen. Later, my sister and I joined a group of people in the harbour. The tide was out, and someone had lit a bonfire. A man was playing an accordion, so we all danced and sang. Last of all, as we wended our way home, a visitor was rowed out to sea and she sang Italian songs in a good voice which carried over the water beautifully. It was a perfect end to a day I will always remember.

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