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David from Tillingham says his family was bombed out twice during the war so they had to stay with his grandma.

He compares himself to children in war torn countries today and says his childhood was very much the same – playing in a war zone.

Children would collect things – a real prize was to find a piece of Perspex from an aircraft because they had never seen (what appeared to be) glass that they couldn’t break.

He describes the feeling of receiving mail: people wouldn’t get letters for weeks and if they saw a telegraph boy coming down on his bike; everybody held their breath. It meant that someone had been killed.

David was nearly 10-years-old on VE Day and living in Barking. He recalls women putting on big spreads with the little they had, people lighting fires in the street and burning holes in the road.

His Uncle Fred had a pair of long clown shoes, so he could lean forward. The children thought he was performing a magic trick. There was lots of singing and lots of beer.

David’s most vivid memory is of some children, who had never seen a banana, try to eat them with their skins on.

Image: A victory parade

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