StoryGnat #28: VE Day
Beyond Britain's street parties...
Happy May, StoryGnatter!
Goodness, the year’s going by fast.
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock (pebble, log, sofa), you’ve probably seen at least something about the commemorations that have been going on to mark 80 years since VE Day (Victory in Europe Day, which marked the end of the war in Europe). The anniversary itself is celebrated on 8th May.
You might have missed, though, that 8th May is also David Attenborough’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Sir David! He turned 99 this year, which means he’d have been celebrating his 19th birthday on VE Day itself.
If you missed it a few weeks ago, here are a few lesser known facts about the great man.
Today’s StoryGnat is all about VE Day, too. I often feel like we hear a lot about how VE Day was celebrated at home in the UK – especially in London, with street parties and impromptu gatherings in central London.
But we’re also reminded that troops beyond Europe were still at war on VE Day, fighting in the Far East. VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day) wouldn’t come until several months later, on August 15th.
And, of course, many troops were still in Europe, no longer fighting but certainly not marking the occasion with friends and family in the UK.
I was interested to dig around and find some slightly different recollections of that day. I’m writing this a few days ahead of time, so perhaps I’ll be pleasantly surprised and you’ll have heard all these and more by now. But then again, perhaps not.
Because not everybody was in London…
INDIA:
On 8th May 1945, Jim Walker was serving with the British Army in India. His regiment was preparing to invade Malaya (now Malaysia), which was being held by the Japanese. They did mark VE Day in their own small way, though, saying “We were given a tiny bottle of American beer to mark the occasion but otherwise it was a normal day.”
BURMA:
Like Jim, Bill Farrow was far from the celebrations back in London. He was in Burma, and his account of the day are an excellent reminder that it was just a normal day in most ways. And a tough one. But like Jim, they did manage to mark the occasion in their own way.
REIMS (FRANCE) AND BEYOND:
US radio operator Gregory Melikian played a unique role in the unfolding of VE Day, as he explained on its 75th anniversary. I’ll let him tell his story. And if you read the full article, you’ll get a snapshot into the personal VE Day memories of a French stretcher bearer, a Dutch pilot and navigator, a British veteran and a member of the Hitler Youth. Each is equally fascinating.
LUNEBERG, GERMANY:
Eric Wilson was a driver in the Royal Army Medical Corps and shared this beautifully illustrated ‘souvenir programme’ from their VE Day celebrations in Lüneburg, Germany. I love that it shows how some of the troops themselves marked the day (football, church, rum and free beer!). His recollections form part of the Their Finest Hour project.
GUERNSEY:
The Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans during WW2. Guernsey Museum gives a great overview of how liberation played out on the island, which celebrates Liberation Day a day after VE Day, on 9th May.
I’m going to close this email with the note my grandad, Wing Commander Bill Douglas, made in his logbook at the time. He was a fighter pilot in the RAF, and on VE Day he was aged 24 and based at RAF Coltishall in Norfolk. I can only imagine the celebrations…
Until next week,
Megan