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The VE Day street party

P

Peter Walker

gone but not forgotten
I wasn’t yet 12, but I was observant and I think I had a good memory. On Monday morning, 7 May (when it was almost certain the European war was over) I went to Aston Grammar as usual. We had the normal ‘Assembly’ where we sang a few hymns and had to listen to a few readings and things, but with a difference - we were told we could go home but should come back on Thursday. That afternoon I went to Peacock’s store on Hawthorn Road to buy a Union Jack flag (amazingly they still had some in stock). In the evening we collected anything that could be burned. Somebody made a sort of Guy Fawkes, and painted a Hitler moustache on the face. That night the men folk erected a string of lights between the lamp posts, opened the access flap at the base of one them and illegally connected the illuminations to the public supply. Next morning the local bobby came past, and said “I’m not interested who did it as long as it’s been done properly”.
Hill Crest Grove was a cul-de-sac with a “banjo-head” at the end for vehicles to turn round in. The bonfire was erected in the middle of that space and during the afternoon, tables were put out and the party began.
My dad was in the RAF, and my mum had her ex-colleague Flip staying with us, as her husband was away in the Navy she had let her house in Great Barr out to other friends who had been bombed out in Handsworth. They both joined in the party for a short while. I was allowed to stay out until quite late. A gramophone was brought out with some records I’d never heard before, like “Tropical Heatwave” and something with a refrain which went “ look after your wife”. Then grown ups drank stuff I didn’t know about, and started to do their party pieces., singing or telling funny stories. Mr Baker did a silly fire-breathing act, smearing his lips with petrol and lighting a match, while Mr Tye ran up and down the road carrying various ladies in a wheelbarrow, which I thought was just as daft. I couldn’t help notice how different people behaved so very differently. Some men and a few women became loud and excited, while others, like my mom and Flip disappeared indoors as soon as they could. I wrote a detailed account of the day to my dad, who later told my mom how he enjoyed reading it and thought I might have some literary talent.
This was all 60 years ago now, and I don’t know whether it’s really a good thing to dwell on WW2. It may be the principal piece of English History as taught in schools, and there is endless stuff on TV about it, but I’m sure there are more important things for kids to learn.
Peter
 
We had a party at an aunts house after the bonfireall, and all of the neighbours came in. I remember that we danced the conga. We went out of one door, round the houses and in another door.

WW2 was fought for our freedom Peter. So many gave their lives for us, of all denominations. For that reason alone I am glad it is a part of today's children's history lessons.
 
I agree with you Diana that WW2 was fought for freedom, but nots let forget that it was still mans inhumanity to man, and as such should not be too glorifyed. And we should also remember that the 1st concentration camps were organised by the British during the Boer war. My own personal view is , don't forget what people have given on our behalf, but lets phase it out slowly and strive for world peace. This may sound selfish, but I lost an uncle in the war and am very proud that I was given his name to remember him by, but I feel it was done for my mother, rather than me as obviously I didn't know him.
I dream of the day when children will told about war and will ask "What is war, Miss" It may never happen but I like to think it may.
Please don't think I am burrying my head in the sand, but I need something to believe in. I only want a safer place for children and grown ups to live in.
 
VE Day Party

I was only 7 years old when the war ended, but the adults must have been aware it was near as for a day or two before the actual day, all the women in our street Copeley Street, were busy making cakes, jeliies, trifles, blancmanges etc., the kids collecting wood off the bomb sites for bonfires.

On the day itself our back window was removed so the table could be taken into the street, along with tables from our neighbours, and as it was a cul de sac the tables were arranged right down the middle with chairs
either side, I can't remember many flags but I suppose the ones we had were saved from the Coronaton in 1937, Iknow I was dressed in red ,white and blue with a flag on the front an outfit saved from the Coronation by my eldest sister. I recall going with my friend to the Clarendon pub at lunchtime with our parents and we danced on the tables.
Then it was back for the street party, and in the evening our piano was manhandled into the street, the bonfire was lit, and there was beer for the men in enamel buckets by the piano. It was a wonderful day to be repeated again in August for VJ Day.
 
I dream of the day when children will told about war and will ask "What is war, Miss" It may never happen but I like to think it may.
Click to expand...


Great sentiments Postie, I'll second that. While we keep that inhumanity uppermost in our minds, imagine the relief for those who had survived those terrible years, the emotion generated at those events must have been quite something.
 
VE Celebration

I agree that war shouldnt be 'glorified' as such, but its our history.

WW2 took an uncle I never meet, took my Dad (not his body, but without doubt his mind and character) and the grief of the loss of his son, took my grandad, as he never recovered or was able to speak of his only son again.

I would not like to see the celebrations 'phased out', so many other cultures hang on with dear life to their history and past, yet we sometimes give away ours so freely, and its our roots. It explains what we are and who we are and I also feel that while it is still comemerated, it will still be debated (lest we forget)?

What does glorify war etc.. are some of the films and games that are available, but not what really happened - celebration maybe the wrong way to reflect - but reflect we must.
 
I had a uncle who was interned in a Japanese prison during the war.
He would never talk about what he went through, except to say that no human being should treat another the way the Japs did.
What he would say was that he wished people wouldn't keep bringing up the atrocities carried out and trying to organise reunions for ex-prisoners. He said it was too painfull and reunions only made him think of his mates who never made it back.
Like you said Sue, he was alive, but only in body, never in spirit or mind.
 
VEry Reflective

Sue,,Postie,, well said along with all you lovely people with great points of view on such a discerning maybe even disconcerting topic.
Of course All War is classically Wrong but it is right for people of That time to celebrate the END of IT, they (Both sides) must have been so releived to see no more death & destruction, the returning of their POW,s who made it through (Such abhorrence), Hoping their 12 year olds might make it to 102 not out,,
Mankind(Homo Sapiens?) have always spent more money,effort & invention on Killing each other than Curing each other (Still in Caves Eh)
History is so Important for Us & our children to learn about these monstrous times, cause & effect, so never Repeat (Hopefully).
I proudly bear 2 names of my Uncles (Dunkirk & N,Africa both 21)
They fought for My right to learn Freedom & to express this openly,
No ,not glorification But honour & respect WE must never Forget,
Thanks & best Regards to All,, John
 
I hope I didn't offend anyone with my gripe about the media attention given to WW2. Can I just try to explain some of the background to my feelings
I personally didn't suffer at all as a kid - some things were quite exciting - and neither did my parents (although my dad was in the RAF, playing in a dance band in Bournemouth for the first 2 years). His dad was injured in WW1 and died in November 1918 from his wounds, and his mom, Nanny Walker brought him up single-handed, so she had good reason to remember things. After she died I found some very moving letters which he wrote to her and my dad. They are now in the Central Library in Brum. A good friend of mine, 10 years older than me, was rear gunner in many, many bombing raids - he is one of few to survive, and rightly has a DFC which he doesn't normally talk about.
My wife was on the other side, born 1936 in Berlin and her parents were patriotic Germans. Barbara was the eldest, but four others came along, the youngest being born in January 1945 when they were evacuated in Silesia, close to the Russian front, ands he had to look after the other three (at 8 years of age) while mum was confined in a clinic. Her dad was working as a civilian engineer in Berlin. Two weeks later the kids found their mum and new brother again, but as the Russians approached they were sent to Austria, where they were kept in a refugee camp. In about August they were told to leave the country on pain of death, and put with another young family in a railway cattle truck, in which they travelled for thee or four weeks. They finally got to Berlin to find their house still standing but occupied by strangers, and learn that their dad had been injured in the street fighting and later died, being buried by a member of the family in an unmarked grave. My mother in law had to bring up those five kids single handed. As Barbara was the eldest she often had to play the role of mum, while her mother did the jobs dad would have done. From 1948 Berlin was divided into East and West and branches of the family separated.
In her teens, Barbara felt she was being put on too much to look after the family and, as soon as she could, she started as a trainee catering assistant, first in Switzerland and then in Bavaria. In her twenties she got a job as an au pair, first in Norway and then in London, where I had the good fortune to meet her.
While my dad never really took to the idea of having a German daughter in law, my old nan said later that she was a bit put off at first, but she had gone through exactly the same experience as my mother in law did 27 years later, and she ended up thinking the world of Barbara - it was mutual.
Among my nan's heirlooms was a square of Flemish lace which I suppose my grandad had sent home in about 1917. When my mother in law's cousin died in East Berlin in 1976 we found two identical squares of Flemish lace which had been collected by a German soldier. Barbara stitched them all together as a gesture of reunification.
Sorry if I have gone on too long, but I am rather sensitive on this subject.
Best Wishes
Peter
 
No Peter of course you didn't offend. We are are all pretty open minded here, and thank goodness we can all share different points of view.

I lived in Berlin for two years while Brian, my husband, served as part of the 'Big Four' powers before the East was liberated. I sat with a man and talked to him about his part in the war, he had lost a leg. He spoke no English, I had learned his language. We none of us held any animosity, it is all part of our past.

I don't want to see another war, between us or any other Country. But we would have to defend ourselves should we find ourselves in the same situation again.To defend the very children we all love and want to protect.

Look at those faces as our wonderful old men and women march past the Cenotaph. Their pride in their country and what they did for it is writ large.
 
I, for one am not offended or bored with your postings, Peter.
I am also married to the daughter of a German gentleman.
It wasn't untill his funeral that we found out what he had to endure to reach this country.
His brother told us of how he journeyed to France and joined the resistance, fighting against his own countrymen. How hard must this have been ?.
Eventually, he reached England, but his troubles were far from over.
He was accused of being a war criminal on the run.
He changed his name to a more English sounding one, not for his sake but for the future children he would father.
When I told my family I was going to marry a German girl, they told me that if I did I would no longer be a part of the family.
My reply was "Fine, in that case, goodbye and have a nice life"
Thank god they changed their attitude and realised what a wonderfull girl I have married.
I was also very proud, when her father, who's name was Gerhardt, but everyone called him Gerry, told me he was proud to call me "SON"
I love my wife to bits, and even put with stupid young kids who think it's funny to say "German, they bombed our chip shop" even though they weren't born when the war was on.
YEP, say what you like, but she will do for me, Tommy. :wink:
 
:D Peter, I was not offended by your remarks, however I think history education on all aspects has a very important part to play in trying to bring about world peace and a sense of community.
We a lot of Japanese people come to NZ, some people treat and talk about them like rubbish when all they want is a better life for their families, just like the rest of us do.
We should never forget WW1, or WW2 because so many were killed or died from the effects of these wars. Everyone lost someone at the time, some of us family we never knew or met.
I have found a number of family members who died in both wars, as a result of family research (History) and feel so close to them when reading the files I have been able to obtain about their lives and how they and their young friends died.
If through this insight into the effects of war and my feelings are the result of war history then let the kids learn too. These feeling are ones of love and compassion for anyone who lost loved ones and a hate for killing, torture, terrorism and humiliation of one human to another .
Now I've waffled and bored the pants off you all I'll go and have a cuppa. :)

Christine :)
 
VE Street Partys

I know we seem to have wandered off the VE street party topics
all I wanted to say..
Just after the 2nd War, I was in a military hospital in Tobruk suffering from Malaria,guess who looked after me? two German POWs awaiting repatriation to go home, say no more
 
VJ Day

My old gran, Nanny Walker, kept a diary which I treasure. It records that on Friday 10 August she went with my mum and me by train to Bude, North Cornwall (changing at Exeter I remember). On Saturday she "had good day", but on Sunday "poorly after broad beans". Tuesday 14 August was spent "on cliffs, midnight news, sherry".
I had other interests - model trains, trams and buses, not to mention my friends, especially Jean - , but I do remember one evening going to a bonfire to celebrate VJ Day. It was rather tame compared with VE Day for obvious reasons, but I think I was late getting to bed on either the Tuesday or the Wednesday.
Not a great story, but it's the truth, so help me.
Peter
 
Have you seen the wonderful pictures by Alan Mawson? "Victory 1945" in Birmingham is a full colour print 14" x 19.5" and I got mine a couple of years ago, it cost me £3 per print plus .75 p.p. I also have "City Child 1949" Birmingham. . Let me know if anyone would like more details.
Alan Mawson says...
Victory 1945. "....In the painting I have tried to capture the joyful atmosphere of these special days and the enormity of the event. I was five years old at the time and personally recall the street party that was held in Hope Street [off Gooch Street] and I have put into the painting many of the images I saw at those parties..."
 
Re: CORONATION STREET PARTY

CAN ANYONE OUT THERE REMEMBER THE CORONATION STREET PARTY I WAS DRESSED UP BY MY MOTHER IN A WHITE SUIT THAT WAS MILES TO BIG STICHED ALL OVER WITH DOZENS OF DEAD MATCHES A RED / WHITE /BLUE /HAT AND A BOARD SAYING STRIKE NO MORE.( THE DEAD MATCHES ) WE HAD A CORONATION COACH FROM DINKY TOYS OR SIMILAIR AND A TIN OF CHOCOLATES FROM CADBURY WHICH WHEN EMPTY BECAME A PENCIL CASE. I STILL SEE THE COACHES ON E BAY AND AM OFTEN TEMPTED TO BUY. ANY OTHER MEMORIES OUT THERE IT MAY BE SOMEONE WAS AT THE SAME PARTY IT WAS IN ARKLEY ROAD HALL GREEN BHAM28
JOHNEDWARD
 
Oh yes Johnedward, remember it well. I went to the local fancy dress party dressed as a Victorian lady, poke bonnet, fan, crinoline gown, the lot. My friend dressed as a gollywog, black cotton wool hair, blacked up face, bow tie, satin jacket and striped trousers. Funny, in those days no one thought of anyone being offended by her outfit.
It was held on the big field near the Stratford Rd in Hall Green - I think it may have been the Lucas sports ground.
 
HI GRACE
YOU SEEM TO BE ASKING ABOUT ROBIN HOOD ISLAND YES I KNEW IT WELL OPP THE ROBIN HOOD PUB IF ITS STILL THERE AND THE POLICE STATION A RESTURANT NOW I THINK I USED TO CROSS IT ON MY WAY TO CHILCOTE SCHOOL AND ON THE WAY HOME INTO THE SHOP FOR 5 PARK DRIVE OR 5 DOMINO AND 10 MATCHES
HAPPY DAY BUT AFTER 45 YEARS I HAVE GIVEN UP SMOKING WISHED I HAD NEVER STARTED
JOHNEDWARD
 
Coronation Party

John I think you might like this. I mentioned a while back that I live in Arkley Road with Mom, Nan my brother and sister. Mom sorted some photos out and this one was amongst what she had. It is the street party in Arkley Road. Mom and her friend Sheila Manning are stood at the gate of 20 Arkley Road in the distance you can't see them very well they are too far away. Sheila Manning was the birmingham woman Sheila Thorn who had sextuplets.
 
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