wartime memories

An emotional day is my reaction to the VE Day 75 years celebration. This is how I celebrated and spent the day.

What is VE Day

May 8th 1945 was the date the Allies celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler’s Reich, formally recognising the end of the Second World War in Europe. This became known as VE (Victory in Europe) Day.

It was an emotional day for me for several reasons

• My parents were very proud of their part in the War, my father saw active service as a soldier in the Army and was deployed overseas as part of the British Liberation army.
• My mother was a volunteer fire warden and was a machinist sewing garments for the military.
• They married during the war.
• My parents, especially my mother loved to talk about life during the war and her experiences. She said it was horrible but the spirit of the nation and how everyone helped each other was amazing
• My parents have passed away in 1976 and 2007.
• I had one brother who was also very interested and proud in our family’s involvement, we also had uncles who proudly served in all the forces. Sadly my brother passed away in January this year, which is why my blog had been dormant for some time.
• This means it was such an emotional day because I have none of my birth family unit left to share memories with. I felt a little lost, even though my husband is very supportive.

My parents Adeline and Norman

Throughout the day I would find myself weeping, many of the images and songs played reminded me of my family. My mother was a great singer and would often sing wartime songs.

 

How did I spend an emotional day in remembrance of VE Day 75

I had managed to obtain a string of Union Jack bunting from Amazon to string across the garage door and make a small display in our front bay window. Our avenue hadn’t planned any street celebrations and there was only our house and a couple of others that were decorated.

In the morning I looked through old photographs of my parents taken during wartime, some I had not seen before after they had recently been passed to me from my late brothers possessions. I was amazed at the resemblance to my nephew and nieces.

I dressed up in Red white and blue

We watched the 2 minute silence at 11 am and I sobbed throughout.

An afternoon tea box with VE Day cupcakes and a loaf cake for Mr Fitz was delivered to the doorstep obeying social distancing rules. This was from a local cafe, my first order from them but certainly not my last as it was all delicious. The Lotus Biscoff Loaf cake was really indulgent!

Mr Fitz and myself sat in the garden with some beer and a bottle of Champagne and I enjoyed my afternoon tea.

Churchill’s speech declaring the end of the war in Europe was shown on TV in the afternoon at 3pm – following this someone in the immediate area then played wartime tunes on a trumpet. We couldn’t see him or her but both of us and our surrounding neighbours all clapped and cheered at the end of each song and naturally and predictably I shed a tear and sobbed.

A truly emotional day but one I was glad to be part of. During the day I thought about one of my cousins from my mothers side. He has none of his original family unit left either.

Spookily he telephoned me the following day to see how I was – we are not normally in regular contact as he was my brothers age, around 11 years older and my brother was his contact – they were very close. It appears we had both had the same thoughts about each other and we had a lovely chat and shared memories together. Very uplifting for both of us.

I had started to trace my family tree a couple of years ago using Ancestry.com but found the monthly fee an unnecessary outgoing. This weekend I have resumed my search using free sources – one being FamilySearch.org which is organised and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – it is a worldwide source.

I spent nearly 2 hours searching last night and am hooked. I will let you know my progress at a later date.

Thanks for popping by and reading my account of an emotional day.  How did you spend Bank Holiday Friday? Also let me know if you have traced your family tree – any hints or tips are gratefully appreciated.