VE Day 75: ‘We put away our gas masks as we held our street party in Southport’

Parties don’t come much bigger than this. 

After a few weeks in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic, people across the UK are now desperate to celebrate a taste of freedom. But that is nothing compared to how people were feeling 75 years ago this Friday, as they held celebratory street parties to mark Victory in Europe Day or VE Day. 

This remarkable photo shows a street party being held on Warren Road in Southport on the 8th of May, 1945.  

It was sent to us by Graham Bridge, who was nine years old at the time! He has fond memories of the occasion. 

Graham said: “As kids we were astonished and amazed that we were having a street party with sandwiches, cakes and drinks, as this was the time that we were still in Wartime Rationing and everything was bought on coupons.

“Our mothers had to get together and plan these parties as our Dads were still away in the Armed Forces. Some would not return.

Celebrate VE Day 75th anniversary with a Stay At Home Street Party

“Tables, chairs and bedsheets plus Union Jack flags and home-made bunting appeared from every house that still had them, and we celebrated the end of the War in Europe.

“Bomb shelters were still dotted every 200 yards along the roadway and afterwards these were then made into great Local Kids Club Shelters.

“Street lamps slowly began to be lit at night again and blackout curtains were torn down, hopefully never to be used again.

“We were allowed to go without our gas masks slung on our shoulders and we looked forward to the end of rationing. Unfortunately this had to go on for some time until the ships bringing in the supplies were allowed free passage into our bomb damaged major ports.

“Christmas presents during the war had been very sparsely available; we were very thankful to get an orange or a banana or a passed-down toy car. 

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“We made go-carts using old pram wheels and pieces of wood and raced against other street gangs to become the best team in the area!

“I was wearing pass-me-downs and patched clothing!

“These were the times of nobody owning a car in our street and having a telephone in the house was unheard of. 

“But because our Dads and Mums together had beaten the Germans we were proud to be British. Churchill was our hero.” 

This Friday, on the 75th anniversary of VE Day, people are being urged to get out your red, white and blue, and celebrate in style despite the coronavirus lockdown: 

11am – why not join in two minutes silence on your doorstep

3pm – Winston Churchill’s iconic speech will be aired on the BBC. Then grab your picnic blankets, or garden table, and head into your front, or back garden. 

4pm – Enjoy tea and scones, or coffee and cake

6pm – Enjoy dinner and raise a glass to your neighbours

9pm – Nationwide singalong to We’ll Meet Again after the Queen’s address 

Please remember the respect the social distancing rules at all times. 

VE Day, on May 8, 1945, marked the end of the battle against Hitler’s Nazis that had ravaged Europe for almost six years, claiming an estimated 75 million lives on both sides of the conflict by the time it finally came to an end.

But the brutal World War Two conflict was to carry on for another three months, with millions more people dead by the time atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan to surrender in August. People are also being urged to celebrate VJ Day, or Victory in Japan Day, later this year. 

VE Day came after Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender being accepted by the Allies on May 8, 1945. 

The capitulation came shortly after the suicide of Nazi Germany’s leader, Adolf Hitler, on April 30 1945 in his Berlin bunker, as Allied forces closed in on him during the Battle of Berlin that took place from April 16 1945 to May 2 1945. 

The ‘act of military surrender’ document was first signed at around 2am on May 7 at the headquarters of the Allied forces in the Netherlands, after which a final version was signed the following day with Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin, marking VE Day.

On the day, huge celebrations were seen, particularly in The United Kingdom and The United States of America. More than one million people took to the streets of Great Britain, with crowds massing in Trafalgar Square and up The Mall, all the way to Buckingham Palace.

In London, Winston Churchill gave a speech celebrating the end of the war in Europe, but also reminded people that the war against Japan was still being fought. 

Amid the celebrations, many people mourned the deaths of their loved ones who had died fighting overseas. An estimated 16 million Allied military personnel died around the world in the war, with a further 45 million civilians. The Germans saw around 8 million military deaths and 4 million civilian deaths.

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