Sussex man’s VE Day memories draw comparisons to difficulties faced in recent times

Anthony Tuffin, of Solent Way, draws similarities between these difficult times we are now living in and the end of the war.

He remembers the joy of finding a South African flag to wave, as you could not get hold of a Union Flag for love nor money, it seemed.

And he speaks of the peace that followed.

Anthony recalls both VE Day in 1945 and the 50th anniversary in 1995 – and reveals how he got on in the three-legged race at each celebration.

He said: “I lived in Worcester Park, then Surrey, now Greater London, and I was seven when the war ended in 1945. I‘ll pause here to give the inquisitive time to work out how old I am now.

“I’m too young (!) to have any pre-war memories. I remember standing on the path in my parents’ front garden towards the end of the war, wondering what peace would be like. All I could think of was that it would be an absence of war.

“I also wondered what news there would be and how the newspapers and wireless, as we then called radio – and there wasn’t any TV – news would fill the space. All my life, I had not read or heard any news except about the war. It had been like Brexit and the coronavirus have been recently but for six years.

“I think neighbours started putting up flags – the Union Flag and the flags of allies – a few days before the end. I desperately wanted one as well but Union Flags had become as hard to find as toilet rolls a few weeks ago. However, I was delighted when we managed to get hold of a South African flag from somewhere. It was very colourful and I think it was the only one in the road.

“Like so many others, our road held a street party on the day. Looking back on it, I don’t know how our mums managed it with such severe rationing, but they did. There were trestle tables of food down the road.

“Most of the men were in the services but one or two stood at each end of the street to stop traffic. Luckily, there were no side roads off ours, so the ends were all that mattered and there was very little traffic in those days. We children used to play in the road.

“A girl and I, I think her name was Pat, came second in the three-legged race for our age group.

“My aunt was single and, of course, she always seemed old to me, but I’ve just calculated that on VE Day, she was approaching her 28th birthday. She lived a short walk away and she came to join in our party. I remember seeing her dance with a man in the street. Wow! So I think there must have been music.

“I lived in Leeds at the time of the 50th anniversary in 1995. I helped organise our street party and I used my collection of 1940s music, including Glen Miller.

“My late wife and I came only third in the three-legged race for adults, so I was slipping compared with 50 years previously.

“I managed to obtain the services of a Churchill impersonator and kept it a secret even from my fellow organisers, so it was a surprise for everybody. He came and gave us a speech comprised of extracts from some of the real Churchill’s best known speeches.

“Children usually find it difficult to assess adults’ ages. A neighbour’s little girl, not much older than I had been when the war ended, asked me what I did during the war. I think she was surprised and disappointed when I told her that I went to school.

“The highlight of the anniversary VE celebrations in 1995 for me was the presence of a German neighbour, who had married an Englishwoman. He symbolised that we were celebrating, not so much the victory of 50 years earlier, as the 50 years of peace at home, especially between Britain and Germany, that we had enjoyed since.

“It is such a shame that voters chose by a tiny majority to leave the EU and weaken our ties of friendship with its other 27 members, including Germany.”

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