Sheffielders' memories of VE Day and what it means to them
Commemorations in the run-up to the 80th anniversary of VE Day are officially underway.
It has been 80 years since the end of World War Two (WW2) in Europe and celebrations are being encouraged across the nation.
The anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day falls on Thursday (May 8) but people are being encouraged to celebrate this Bank Holiday Monday (May 5), kicking off four days of commemoration.
Events to mark the anniversary this bank holiday Monday include a 1,300 strong military procession from Whitehall to Buckingham Palace, and London’s Cenotaph has been draped in Union Jacks flags, echoing its 1920 unveiling to honour the fallen from World War One.
In Sheffield, street parties are being held in a number of locations across the city, as communities remember the sacrifices made by so many during WW2.
Over the years, The Star has been in the privileged position of documenting history by collecting Sheffielders’ VE Day memories.
And we can think of no better time to share them with you once again.
First time seeing people singing and dancing
Graham Oxley, of S62, told us in 2020: “It was a few weeks prior to my 10th birthday. I lived with my mum, dad and younger sister in Myrtle Road, Heeley just over Havelock Bridge and every house and building displayed the Union flag in some way and an image of Hitler was hung from a lamp post.
“In the evening every house every house and shop had lights showing, which was a novelty, as every property, including men’s pipes, were not allowed to show any form of light under threat of prosecution.
“In the evening we walked to Beadow’s shop at the corner of Queens Road and London Road near to Dickinson’s Guernsey Road cutlery works (mentioned in Retro, May 2 and where my mum worked in the 1920s/30s), where the party was in full swing with people dancing and singing, something I had never seen before.
“It was well past our normal bedtime when we left feeling very tired and as we walked home on Queens Road someone had dragged a piano on the tramlines in the middle of Queens Road near the The Earl pub and another group were singing, dancing and having a good time.
“The following day, on a bomb site near our house, was a very large bonfire with singing, dancing and fireworks. Whenever I drive on Queens Road or around Heeley, all these memories of VE Day and the war come flooding back to me.”
Pangs of guilt over discarded blancmange
Don Alexander, of Knab Road, Ecclesall, also shared a funny incident relating to celebrations held on Parkwood Road, by the Neepsend Gas works, using trestle tables and benches from Longden's wood yard.
“I sat with my friend, fellow seven-year-old Alan Cottingham, and we tucked in, but were wary of something called blancmange, which we never had seen the like of before. We therefore, to be safe, scraped it on to the cobbled roadway.
“Clearing the trestle tables and benches afterwards exposed the blobs of blancmange.
“‘Look at this waste, Donald,’ said a large lady, a street stalwart called Gertie Brone, ‘and kiddies in Europe starving.’
“I felt pangs of guilt and left Alan to comment: ‘Yes Mrs Brone, it's shocking, isn't it.’”
“My first lesson on how to stick up for myself”
Pat Garlick, of Dronfield, remembered a feisty woman.
She says: “I was aged nine-and-a-half on VE Day.
“My dad took me into town to see the celebrations. We were in front of the City Hall in a huge crush. Dad was holding tight to my hand.
“When all of a sudden, the lady in front turned around and slapped all the men's faces who were in her vicinity. As she got to dad he grabbed hold of her wrist to stop her.
“I asked dad why the lady had done that. He said maybe someone had pinched her bottom. My first lesson on how to stick up for myself.”
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Future married couple captured together as children
This photograph includes a future married couple as children.
Keith Panther recalls: “This photo is of Hunter Hill Road, Hunters Bar, VE Day celebrations.
“On the photo is me, aged 11, my sister Cynthia, aged seven, and my wife, aged eight, from 1957.
“We are all still alive and my wife and I have lived in Mallorca for the last 48 years.
“My wife’s father took the photo. He was in the Police War Reserve during the war.”
Chocolate treat to mark the occasion
Former Sheffield schoolboy Peter Wolstenholm recalls a chocolate treat to mark VE Day.
He says: “In May 1945, I was a nine-year-old pupil at St. Theresa’s School, Prince of Wales Road, Manor.
“Food was rationed, sweets and chocolate scarce. One day in early May we were marched class by class into the school hall where smiling staff stood behind tables piled with cardboard boxes.
“We were told ‘The War is over’ and each given a two-ounce bar of Fry’s Sandwich Chocolate – Fry’s Sandwich was a layer of milk, a layer of plain and another layer of milk making a ‘sandwich’ bar.”
"I attach this photo for your interest. I am the little boy sitting on the front row with the cake on my left-hand side and my mother is on the right-hand side of the picture at the front"