VE Day provokes wartime memories

Memories of a momentous day 80 years ago came flooding back for Telford residents who were children on VE Day.

Events are being held across Shropshire to coincide with the anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe with Telford & Wrekin Council, and a host of town and parish councils, chipping in taxpayers money in the borough.

For the 80 and 90 year olds at Belmont Hall in Wellington it is a good way to remember the sacrifice of a generation, and the way that Brits came together on May 8, 1945.

The hall hosts regular lunches for the elder members of the community. The Local Democracy Reporting Service went along to meet some of them at a recent gathering.

They will reconvene for their big VE Day celebration on the afternoon of Friday, May 9.

Geordie-born Maureen Powell, aged 96, who wasn’t living in Wellington at the time, said: “We used to be on top of a hill and you could watch the German aircraft flying overhead.

“You could see the Swastikas and sometimes even the pilots, and the anti-aircraft guns firing up at the planes.

“I can remember the excitement of VE Day; everybody went out and was singing and dancing. It was so exciting for everybody, the atmosphere was fantastic and people were hugging complete strangers.”

Mrs Powell, the widow of Belmont Hall founder Gerry, is the President of the prominent venue.

She added: “The country was still at war against Japan at the time but this gives us a chance to remember.”

Mrs Joy Price, aged 94, who was a child in Coseley, in Staffordshire, said she recalls the memories of the war and VE Day “although it were yesterday.”

A young teenager on the day, she recalls May 8, 1945 being brilliantly sunny when she went for a picnic to eat spam sandwiches and jam sandwiches, and drink ginger beer.

There was a huge party with a bonfire and she remembers George Evans playing an old harmonium.

“Boy, could he play,” she said. “We sang and danced and stayed up late.”

From the war she recalls seeing trains carrying wounded troops, the fires from the bombing of Coventry, and a time when “everyone was so friendly, nice, and showing Christian kindness.”

She added: “It was a time of loyalty and pride.”

Mrs Price also remembers the impact the war had on some of the troops.

“I knew an man who fought across Africa, Italy and the Mediterranean,” she said. “He survived the war but he must have seen some dreadful things. He came back a changed man.

“We have to remember them.”

Mrs Alwena Evans, aged 85, now of Dawley, used to live above the National Provincial Bank in Hope Street, Wrexham. Whenever there was an air raid they would take shelter in the bank vault.

On VE Day, the street was filled and “there was a lot of rejoicing.”

Alwena’s husband Dewi Evans, aged 87, and also growing up in Wrexham, said: “I can remember the German planes flying over as they went to bomb Liverpool. I was a bit worried.

“The end of the war was a big relief for everybody. It is an important event to mark.”

A common memory is of rationing, which went on for years after the end of the war.

And when rationing ended they recall eating their first banana in many years. People would chop them up and share out the precious slices.

Mr Evans went on to join the Army with the Royal Army Pay Corps during his call up to National Service in the 1950s.

He served in Germany, attached to the Coldstream Guards, and got to see how Hitler’s war had devastated the former enemy’s country.

Belmont Community Hall, at Tan Bank, Wellington, will be hosting a VE 80th Lunch on Friday May 9. It will include Bridgnorth teenage singer Macy O, and a film of VE Day celebrations.

Telford & Wrekin Councillor Stephen Handley (Labour, St George’s) is also the coordinator and treasurer at Bellmont Hall. He helped secure a VE Day match-funded grant of £285 from Telford & Wrekin Council to organise the event.

He said it would help pay for free meals and entertainment, which includes a 35 minute film of VE and VJ (Victory in Japan) celebrations.

Pic: Married couple Dewi, left, and Alwena Evans at Belmont Hall in advance of a VE Day event – LDRS