Â鶹Éç

Diana was ten-years-old on VE Day. She had spent the war years growing up in Barkingside, Ilford, where her father was the local GP.

She can remember waking up one morning, looking out the window and seeing lots of American soldiers camped out at the end of her street. She found out a few days later that they had been en route to Normandy as part of the D-Day operations, a sign of ‘the beginning of the end of the war’.

Diana and her family then followed the soldiers’ progress on a big map with pins and flags. That final year felt very dangerous to Diana, with the continual threat of V1 and V2 flying rockets landing in the neighbourhood.

On VE Day, Diana, with her brother and sister and the local children, enjoyed a street party with many of the mothers, but very few men were present. She remembers the day being blessed with beautiful spring weather and found the whole experience immensely exciting.

She can even remember one of the children’s songs they sung on the day, and sings it again for the first time in seventy years.

Image: Diana in the summer of 1945, just after the war.

Show less