VE Day 1945 - What were your family doing?

[Paul Waine]

Thinking back 75 years. My Dad was in India and Singapore as aircraft technician, RAF. My Mum was working in post office in East Manchester, She would have been on fire watch on the roof top overnight, watching out for V1 and V2 - though I'm not sure of the dates of last attacks on Manchester. Mum and Dad were both single at that time, 24 and 25 years old. My Dad's younger brother had joined navy. I think he was still in training as war ended in Europe. My Dad was demobbed in late 1946 or early 47.

All now passed on, so not here to ask specifically about 8th May or other details.

Interesting to compare their experiences with our situation in 2020.

What are other family stories?

[evensteadiereddie]

Hoping that my old man would survive the next few months out in Burma.

[mikeS]

My dad was in the Grenadiers and on guard at Windsor Castle. I had an Uncle in the RAF in India and an uncle in the BEF who was Then in Greece but had been through Dunkirk, Sicily, Italy. My mum was working at Lucas making electrical gear for fighting vehicles.

[Tricky Trevor]

Thanks to all who fought. Our family were very lucky and we didn’t lose anybody in the fight against the Nazi madmen.

[Devils_Advocate]

https://bylinetimes.com/2020/05/05/ve-d ... in-umbria/

[africlaret]

My dad was with the RAF police, my uncle on HMS Orion in the Med,my aunt in the WRAC and my mum looking after three-month-old me in Quedgeley, Gloucester.

[Tribesmen]

Hiding Germans in the loft .

[CleggHall]

My Dad did 29 yrs in the army, Signals Corps then Education. Shipped out of Singapore with my mum and elder brother before the Japs came down the Malaya Peninsula. Demobbed in 45 shortly after I was born.

[Fenwick]

My Nan was probably having a grand old time surrounded by American and Canandian airman before Grandpa saw the last of them off. Hardest thing he had to do in the war. And he'd bombed Berlin !

[bobinho]

My grandad was a half track driver in North Africa, fighting against Rommel, but ultimately the tyrant Adolf Hitler. My grandad was part of 7 Armd Brigade, the desert rats.

I’m very proud to say I too was a desert rat for the liberation of Iraq from the tyrant Saddam Hussein In 2003.

[ClaretTony]

My dad was in Italy at the end of the war. The pic below was taken after the war had ended but before he was demobbed. He's the one on the left of the three.

dad.jpg (72.81 KiB) Viewed 2466 times

[ecc]

Huge respect and immense gratitude to all those who fought against fascism.

[spadesclaret]

My Dad was still a Far East POW. My Mum and I lived with my paternal grandparents and my Dad's six brothers and sisters. No bathroom, no electricity, an outdoor hole-in-the-ground loo. I was a month short of my 3rd birthday.

We were all waiting for VJ day.

[TheOriginalLongsider]

Great photo !

[lakedistrictclaret]

I 'm not sure where my Dad was on VE day, but he was in the Navy escorting merchant ships backwards and forwards across the Atlantic.

Despite the carnage meted out by German u-boats, my Dad's ship was only shot at once, and it missed!

[Clarets4me]

My Mum's Dad would be hanging his ARP helmet up for the last time, and no doubt enjoying a puff on his pipe. My Dad, his sister and my Gran, would be remembering my Granddad, L/cpl 2585547 Royal Signals, died in the Coventry bombings in July 1943. My Gran was 35 at the time, and passed away in 1993, aged 85. She never even looked at another man in those 50 years ....

[bodge]

Interesting that you mention the U boats lakedistrict, some of them were still a threat after VE day as they didn't know that Doenitz had surrendered.

Reminds me of the Japanese soldier who was discovered in the early 70's i think on a remote island, who wasn't aware that the war had ended !

[clitheroeclaret3]

My dad was an army gunner, one of the 80000 captured at Singapore, a "guest" of the then brutal Japanese on the Burma railway.

Mum, a nurse.
Ended up nursing happy german soldiers! Quite a difference in cultures

[Clarets4me]

Interesting that you mention the U boats lakedistrict, some of them were still a threat after VE day as they didn't know that Doenitz had surrendered.

Reminds me of the Japanese soldier who was discovered in the early 70's i think on a remote island, who wasn't aware that the war had ended !

Lt. Onoda finally surrendered on the Philipine island of Lubang on 11th March 1974. The Japanese authorities located his former c/o, a Major Taniguchi, then working as a bookseller, and flew him out to Lubang to order him to lay down his arms. He'd actually killed 30 people whilst hiding out in the mountains, in " guerrilla " type operations believing the war was still on. He was eventually given a full pardon by the President of the Philippines, and flew home to a hero's reception.

[Holmeclaret]

My grandad was in the Irish Guards. He stayed on in the army after the war and became an RSM. I had an uncle who was a desert rat and another who died flying a Mosquito in the Far East. I had an uncle who fought the Japenese in the Indian army.
My mother was brought up in Hertfordshire and as a five year old she met black US servicemen who loved the British for the respect they received compared to what they got at back at home.

[evensteadiereddie]

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Fascinating.

[ClaretTony]

Just realised that my dad was 17 when war broke out - so he'd have been one of the youngest to get called up

[Blackrod]

Great thread.

[bodge]

Thanks clarets4me, really interesting stuff.

I have massive respect for those who fought the Japanese, I've had the privilege of visiting the beautifully kept war cemeteries at Kanchanaburi in Thailand at the scene of the Bridge over the River Kwai, there's also a small museum highlighting the brutality meted out to our POW's whilst building the Burma railway there as well. A truly nasty mentality was evident to all non Japanese at the time.

Anyway sorry to digress as this thread is about VE Day !

[claretfern]

My Uncle, a Royal Marine Commando, would have been in Kawloon, Hong Kong.

[ralphdpomeroy]

My Mum's Dad would be hanging his ARP helmet up for the last time, and no doubt enjoying a puff on his pipe. My Dad, his sister and my Gran, would be remembering my Granddad, L/cpl 2585547 Royal Signals, died in the Coventry bombings in July 1943. My Gran was 35 at the time, and passed away in 1993, aged 85. She never even looked at another man in those 50 years ....

We lost some family in Coventry when the Scala Cinema was bombed in November 1940 ... sad tale mother and 18 month old son both killed ...

My English Grandad was an MP ..SiB ...served in Belgium,Germany and Holland and on escort duty to the States ..my Dublin Grandad went North and joined the fire brigade aged just 16 during the Belfast Blitz then served across North Africa and Malta with the Royal Engineers ..mind his family were professional soldiers back to the early 1800s ...

[ElectroClaret]

My late father came ashore on Gold beach Normandy on D Day. Would still have been in the army on VE day. Demobbed late '45.

[Polesworth]

My Dad was also a Japanese POW so was in all probability oblivious to VE day. He was in the 85th Anti-tank regiment and after basic training he sailed from Greenock on November 11th 1941, destined for Iraq and some desert warfare. En-route orders diverted them to Singapore via Capetown, Durban and the Maldives arriving January 13th 1942
As the Japanese approached Singapore his gun battery was deployed on the outskirts of Jahore Baru, Malaysia, on the other side of the causeway. As part of ‘operation rear-guard’ they covered the allied troops retreat over the causeway to Singapore Island. He suffered a shrapnel wound to his head when the area was carpet bombed by Japanese aircraft. He was hospitalised for a short time in Singapore. There was no air cover.
Following capture on the 15th February he cleared bomb damage in Singapore and also worked in the docks before being sent up country into Thailand to build the Thai-Burma railway (aka the Death Railway). They were transported by lorry and freight train, thirty men to a truck. They arrived in Bampong, a journey of five or six days to camp near Kamburi, then Tarso, then on again till Kanu, marching more than a hundred miles,. During captivity he worked 14 to 16 hours a day, creating camps in the jungle and then clearing rock and trees. He moved to Hintok Valley Camp clearing trees to make ‘The Pack Of Cards’ Bridge, then further along to Hintok River Camp. Later he was sent back to work at Kanchanaburi, a hospital camp, where he met Russell Braddon, (author of The Naked Island), ‘Weary’ Dunlop (Australian surgeon) and Ronnie Searle (cartoonist). After five weeks he was sent back to Singapore, via the hellish freight trains to Sime Road Camp, then Changi Jail. He worked on Changi Aerodrome then Adam Road Camp digging underground tunnels before the Japanese surrendered.
Conditions in the railway camps were primitive and horrific—food was totally inadequate, beatings were frequent and severe, there were no medical supplies, tropical diseases were rampant, and the Japanese required a level of productivity that would have been difficult for fully fit and properly equipped men to achieve. 13,000 FEPOWs died constructing the railway – that’s a 1 in 4 death rate.
He rarely spoke about his experiences as a FEPOW and wouldn’t have Japanese goods in the house. Fortunately, in later life, he recounted what I have written here.
Three and a half years working as a slave labourer – now that’s some life changing experience!
We’ll be commemorating VE day today and VJ day on the 15th August.
Anyone who wants to know more about FEPOW’s should pay a visit to the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas where there is a FEPOW building containing exhibits detailing this period in history. (When lockdown permits).

[clansman]

Dad was a petty officer in Royal Navy on destroyers.
I’m not sure where he was on VE Day but mum and my eldest brother and two sisters were at home in Clayton le moors.Dad was a devenport man not Portsmouth and train trips home to Accrington took 12- 14 hours sometimes!

[Clarets4me]

Mrs " Clarets4me's " Grandfather was a gunner in the Royal Artillery, captured at Singapore. He spent most of his time in " Saigon 1 " Camp, an old French Foreign Legion fort in French Indo-China ( now Vietnam ). For him and others, the war continued until August 15th. My family originate from Nottingham, and my Great Uncle Eric was part of the British forces tasked with liberating the " Camps ". He eventually returned in February 1946, on a Dakota transport plane, a journey that took 12 days and 16 fuel stops. On setting foot back on English soil, he swore that he'd never, ever get on a " B****y Aeroplane " again, and despite living to the grand age of 88, he never did !

[lancastrian]

Slightly off track but I was seven years old when the war finished. Remember going down to Burnley centre to see the illuminated signs on shops such as Burtons etc. Never seen anything like it before

[strayclaret]

Mum and Dad got married when he came home after serving in North Africa and VE Day he was in India.
Mum was in the Land Army in Lincolnshire

[KateR]

I lost three uncles in war, all whom I never met out of 5 boys two girls including my mother who was working in the mills as best I know.

My father left when I was young so never knew what he did.

My step father beat Rommel, apparently he had some help from some Field Marshal along the way, later I learned from my mother he was a cook in the army in N Africa but obviously still part of the army but no idea where he was on VE day.

My father in-law was in the Black Watch but again no idea where he was on VE Day.

Sad now thinking I should no more but both sets of parents not around to ask this question.

[Dawlishclaret]

My dad was in the RAF, was in Sicily and ended up in Berlin after the war - he was in a plane crash shortly afterwards (one of only 2 survivors) and then was demobbed. Like many he never really talked about what he did. My mum was in the land army.
My wife's dad was in a cavalry regiment in India before the war; they came home and converted to tanks. He was seconded to SOE and never said a word about it; in his later years he lived in fear that someone would come and get him for what he had done. The only detail we ever found out that he was flown into France in Lysanders.

[Cajun]

I 'm not sure where my Dad was on VE day, but he was in the Navy escorting merchant ships backwards and forwards across the Atlantic.

Despite the carnage meted out by German u-boats, my Dad's ship was only shot at once, and it missed!

My dad's destroyer, Kootenay, did the same thing most of the time, and after being involved in the operation to seal off the Channel for D-day, was credited with sinking two u-boats in the weeks following in tandem with it's sister ship Ottowa. Crew pictured on deck in 1943, my dad is extreme left of second row with his arm sticking out. Salute them all.

Kootenay.jpg (97.91 KiB) Viewed 2114 times

kootenay2.jpg (53.55 KiB) Viewed 2114 times

[lakedistrictclaret]

I' ve studied that photo carefully, Cajun, on the off chance that our dads were on the same ship, but I don't see him.

[Paul Waine]

My Dad was also a Japanese POW so was in all probability oblivious to VE day. He was in the 85th Anti-tank regiment and after basic training he sailed from Greenock on November 11th 1941, destined for Iraq and some desert warfare. En-route orders diverted them to Singapore via Capetown, Durban and the Maldives arriving January 13th 1942
As the Japanese approached Singapore his gun battery was deployed on the outskirts of Jahore Baru, Malaysia, on the other side of the causeway. As part of ‘operation rear-guard’ they covered the allied troops retreat over the causeway to Singapore Island. He suffered a shrapnel wound to his head when the area was carpet bombed by Japanese aircraft. He was hospitalised for a short time in Singapore. There was no air cover.
Following capture on the 15th February he cleared bomb damage in Singapore and also worked in the docks before being sent up country into Thailand to build the Thai-Burma railway (aka the Death Railway). They were transported by lorry and freight train, thirty men to a truck. They arrived in Bampong, a journey of five or six days to camp near Kamburi, then Tarso, then on again till Kanu, marching more than a hundred miles,. During captivity he worked 14 to 16 hours a day, creating camps in the jungle and then clearing rock and trees. He moved to Hintok Valley Camp clearing trees to make ‘The Pack Of Cards’ Bridge, then further along to Hintok River Camp. Later he was sent back to work at Kanchanaburi, a hospital camp, where he met Russell Braddon, (author of The Naked Island), ‘Weary’ Dunlop (Australian surgeon) and Ronnie Searle (cartoonist). After five weeks he was sent back to Singapore, via the hellish freight trains to Sime Road Camp, then Changi Jail. He worked on Changi Aerodrome then Adam Road Camp digging underground tunnels before the Japanese surrendered.
Conditions in the railway camps were primitive and horrific—food was totally inadequate, beatings were frequent and severe, there were no medical supplies, tropical diseases were rampant, and the Japanese required a level of productivity that would have been difficult for fully fit and properly equipped men to achieve. 13,000 FEPOWs died constructing the railway – that’s a 1 in 4 death rate.
He rarely spoke about his experiences as a FEPOW and wouldn’t have Japanese goods in the house. Fortunately, in later life, he recounted what I have written here.
Three and a half years working as a slave labourer – now that’s some life changing experience!
We’ll be commemorating VE day today and VJ day on the 15th August.
Anyone who wants to know more about FEPOW’s should pay a visit to the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas where there is a FEPOW building containing exhibits detailing this period in history. (When lockdown permits).

That's definitely a tale that should ensure we all mark 15th August in our calendars.

[evensteadiereddie]

My Dad was also a Japanese POW so was in all probability oblivious to VE day. He was in the 85th Anti-tank regiment and after basic training he sailed from Greenock on November 11th 1941, destined for Iraq and some desert warfare. En-route orders diverted them to Singapore via Capetown, Durban and the Maldives arriving January 13th 1942
As the Japanese approached Singapore his gun battery was deployed on the outskirts of Jahore Baru, Malaysia, on the other side of the causeway. As part of ‘operation rear-guard’ they covered the allied troops retreat over the causeway to Singapore Island. He suffered a shrapnel wound to his head when the area was carpet bombed by Japanese aircraft. He was hospitalised for a short time in Singapore. There was no air cover.
Following capture on the 15th February he cleared bomb damage in Singapore and also worked in the docks before being sent up country into Thailand to build the Thai-Burma railway (aka the Death Railway). They were transported by lorry and freight train, thirty men to a truck. They arrived in Bampong, a journey of five or six days to camp near Kamburi, then Tarso, then on again till Kanu, marching more than a hundred miles,. During captivity he worked 14 to 16 hours a day, creating camps in the jungle and then clearing rock and trees. He moved to Hintok Valley Camp clearing trees to make ‘The Pack Of Cards’ Bridge, then further along to Hintok River Camp. Later he was sent back to work at Kanchanaburi, a hospital camp, where he met Russell Braddon, (author of The Naked Island), ‘Weary’ Dunlop (Australian surgeon) and Ronnie Searle (cartoonist). After five weeks he was sent back to Singapore, via the hellish freight trains to Sime Road Camp, then Changi Jail. He worked on Changi Aerodrome then Adam Road Camp digging underground tunnels before the Japanese surrendered.
Conditions in the railway camps were primitive and horrific—food was totally inadequate, beatings were frequent and severe, there were no medical supplies, tropical diseases were rampant, and the Japanese required a level of productivity that would have been difficult for fully fit and properly equipped men to achieve. 13,000 FEPOWs died constructing the railway – that’s a 1 in 4 death rate.
He rarely spoke about his experiences as a FEPOW and wouldn’t have Japanese goods in the house. Fortunately, in later life, he recounted what I have written here.
Three and a half years working as a slave labourer – now that’s some life changing experience!
We’ll be commemorating VE day today and VJ day on the 15th August.
Anyone who wants to know more about FEPOW’s should pay a visit to the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas where there is a FEPOW building containing exhibits detailing this period in history. (When lockdown permits).

Absolutely astonishing, Polesworth, and thanks for posting.
You're bang on about the National Arboretum, a couple of miles down the A38 from me, we go there a lot, to the Burma Star section particularly, because of my Dad's service.
The POW exhibit/building is both horrifying and inspiring at the same time.
My mum had a distant cousin who survived a POW camp out there - he didn't utter a word about, ever.

[ClaretAndJew]

My Grandad, I believe in Burma, though uncertain of the year.

[Cajun]

I' ve studied that photo carefully, Cajun, on the off chance that our dads were on the same ship, but I don't see him.

Lakedistrict - He has all the crew signatures on the back and bottom of this photo. When my dad joined up in Burnley he and one of his pals were offered the option of serving with the Royal Canadian Navy based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, which is what happened, and they then served on the Kootenay. I met up with the daughter of that guy a few years ago in Skipton and exchanged photos that our dads had taken of each other which was fascinating. So if your dad served in the Royal Navy rather than the RCN he is likely not on this ship. Can have a search through the names if you want though.

[IanMcL]

Hiding Germans in the loft .

Reminds me of the joke...

You were in the war grandad. Did you see those German guns?
Yes laf. A Luger. I have in in a tin in the shed.
Wow Grandad!

What about those helmets Grandad?
If you look at the hanging basket, Simon the way out, that's made from one.

Wow!
Grandad - did you see those big coats the Germans wore?

Yes lad I have one in the loft, covering the tank.

COR!! GRANDAD!!!!!! You've got a TANK???????

[bodge]

Just spoke to mi Dad, he was 19 on VE Day and was waiting for his Home Guard uniform at the time as he had a medical which meant his asthma kept him out of the armed forces, i have no doubt that he would have been the Sgt Wilson of the Kelbrook home guard.

He's still there now.

[IanMcL]

Just spoke to mi Dad, he was 19 on VE Day and was waiting for his Home Guard uniform at the time as he had a medical which meant his asthma kept him out of the armed forces, i have no doubt that he would have been the Sgt Wilson of the Kelbrook home guard.

He's still there now.

Blimey! Have they not yet demobbed the Home Guard?

[Zlatan]

One grandfather was in a POW camp in the Far East (not sure where) he never fully recovered on return and took 25 years to die - never could talk about the suffering he experienced.

Other grandfather was in the home guard and lived till 1991.

Not sure what grand mother’s did, never been told.

[lakedistrictclaret]

Lakedistrict - He has all the crew signatures on the back and bottom of this photo. When my dad joined up in Burnley he and one of his pals were offered the option of serving with the Royal Canadian Navy based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, which is what happened, and they then served on the Kootenay. I met up with the daughter of that guy a few years ago in Skipton and exchanged photos that our dads had taken of each other which was fascinating. So if your dad served in the Royal Navy rather than the RCN he is likely not on this ship. Can have a search through the names if you want though.

Thanks Cajun, but my dad was in the RN. I don't know where he joined up, but he lived in Bacup.

I've got some photos of him in New York City between sailings.

[evensteadiereddie]

I remember my dad telling me tales about the Home Guard, as he often did as we walked around the reservoirs above Nelson and beyond.
He loved "Dad's Army" and swore to God that virtually every unit had one or some of the characters portrayed in it. He reckoned the Nelson lads had to fashion their own dummy rifles, there weren't enough real ones to go round.
Whatwere they expected to do - club the elite German paras to the ground ?

[IanMcL]

My mum was on the buses as a clippy. She said there were parties in town, in Reading.

My dad had a gammy leg, so was a Warrrant Officer driving huge American trucks, full of supplies, all over the country. They moved in convoy day and night....without lights and no road signs!

Not sure where he was on VE day. He told me they had so many days to get to Scotland, from Reading. He used do do it in half the time, so he could see his mates and remaining family.

Best base for the night was an American base. They would feed up the drivers and give them fags etc, which was good for bartering and a proper bed. They would also put whatever date you wanted on the documents, so the trip looked 'normal'.

By contrast the British based were usually jobsworths and you had to fend for yourself and sleep in the truck cab!

[tim_noone]

My paternal grandad was in the Army along with my uncle and two Aunties.... on learning her daughters had joined up so did my Nana... my Dad was in the navy at 16 or so being told to walk round the block at recruitment and hed be seventeen when he got back... my mutha who is nearly ninety just told me the family could see Liverpool being bombed from Blackpool ..and "accidentally"bombed it once...as Blackpool tower was a landmark for the germans.her mutha my grandma was working in Mark's and Spencer's.and on hearing the sirens people panicked where do we go where do we go.....my grandma replied....I dont know where your gunna go but I'm going for my Dinner!

[bfcmik]

My dad was only 16 on VE day and turned 17 just before VJ day. He was working at the Crewe railway yards as a shunter from 1942 when he left school and recalls the bombers trying to hit the extensive works and sidings but usually missing he told me. My mum lived in Bacup and had her 9th birthday 3 days before VE day. Her main wartime memory is of my Uncle Joe Rourke who brought home a bunch of bananas and a fresh pineapple from one of his voyages where he was an artilleryman serving on board fast merchant ships fitted with 17 pounders. She says she took the pineapple into school as no-one she knew had ever seen 1 before.

My 2 grandfathers had both served in WW1. My dad's dad had served in the railway supply chain on the western front and my maternal grandad had been invalided out after suffering gas inhalation injuries so neither served in WW2. Both worked for the LMS during WW2. 1 was in nice quiet Bacup and 1 was based in heavily bombed Crewe

[tim_noone]

Edit: I think me grandad was in the s.s.