VE Day Party

Victory in Europe Day, generally known as VE Day (Great Britain) or V-E Day (North America), is a day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on the 8 May 1945. On the announcement of the surrender, many neighbourhoods organised street parties to celebrate the coming of peace. The provisions were generally items kept back out of weekly rations.

On the evening of the announcement on the 8th of May, people congregated in many of the public spaces in the town to celebrate. Anne Myall in 2020 contributed this personal recollection of the evening:

“I was 10yrs old when it was V.E day we lived in The Croft, next door to the Kenward family that had the dairy in Courthouse Street. On this day, I went down to Winkle Island to join in with the celebrations, Mrs Kenward was there, and she was, and I am trying not to be rude a rather large lady, [and] had made a pair of big bloomers out of a Union Jack, she kept pulling her skirt up and bending over to show them off to everyone's great amusement. Me being a little Miss Prim was thoroughly shocked at that time But that image has never left my mind of that day.”