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Sheila was eight on VE Day and Maureen was just four. But 70 years on they’re still friends.

Sheila was born in London but her family moved to Skegness to escape the blitz. Her grandma was already living in the resort and her uncle was stationed at Butlins, which at the time was HMS Royal Arthur.

They persuaded them to move somewhere quieter. But the day they arrived in Skegness the town was bombed – making the family wonder whether they had made the right decision.

She remembers the planes droning overhead and going into a cupboard under the stairs when the sirens went off.

A VE Day street party was arranged on Wilford Grove. It was a chilly May day on the coast so the children were all wearing coats. A large union flag, tied to a lamppost, fluttered in the breeze.

A long table was laid out and more than twenty children found a place on the long benches. The girls were outnumbered by boys. They posed for photographs before tucking into cakes and sandwiches provided by a group of local women. Each place had a plate and a teacup and saucer.

Rex – a spaniel owned by one of the organisers of the street party features in the VE Day photographs – was no doubt hopeful of getting a few dropped crumbs!

Image: Sheila’s street party in Skegness

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