Dad’s VE Day

Today is Victory in Europe Day, the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in the European theatre of the conflict. I’m lucky enough that my dad, at the time a young child, still remembers that day. Especially in times like these, personal stories can mean so much;

“I remember a clear, sunny morning. I woke up in one of those alcove beds and there was a guy standing at the sink we used for washing up the dishes over by the window, and he was standing stripped to the waist, a pair of braces hanging down, and he was shaving. He turned round and looked at me and said “hello son” and I didn’t know it then, but that was the end of the war. One of these guys got me up on his shoulders and took me outside and there was a great long line of military vehicles, it was amazing. He lifted me up onto a tank or armoured car and let me play with the gun, it was brilliant. And then they all disappeared.”