VE-Day and Beyond

The 8th of May 1945 marks the end of WWII and victory in Europe. After 6 years of tireless fighting negotiations were finally made between Germany and the allies this did not come to a surprise for many who had been anticipating the surrender and where patiently waiting for the war to end. Celebrations broke out immediately with newspapers printing special editions of the news and parties breaking out on the streets filled with music and dancing until the early hours of the morning. The parties continued, and the 8th was declared as a national holiday by Churchill following his announcement on the wireless, the government encouraged people to buy bunting and beer without rationing and various events such as parades, street parties and concerts where put together to share this moment of victory together as a community, it is estimated that around 50,000 people where crowded round Piccadilly Circus by midnight following the announcements.

Street Party, Nottingham 

Here is an extract from the front page of a newspaper when Edwinstowe took to the streets. Looking at how the community came together to celebrate from the memory of local councillor Pam Bird: "On the eve of VE day a great drumming noise accompanied by singing and cheering rent the quiet midnight streets. The Marson brothers Ron, Gerald, and Edwin, were intent on spreading the news they had heard over radio Luxembourg that the war in Europe was over. Hundreds of people the young, the elderly and teenagers came out on the streets to cheer the news".

For many marking a new era of peace and prosperity also came with significant loss. Amongst the parties and celebrations were grieving families who had lost their homes and loved ones. It is important not just to mark it as a victory but to honour the people that carried the weight of the war, both on the front lines and at home.

It was not the end of the conflict just yet as many members of the allied forces were still serving overseas as the War against Japan did not end until August 1945 and even then, the War continued in the Far East with thousands of soldiers being held as prisoners of war. Even after peace was declared the political, social, and economic impacts would last years. This is seen most notably through rationing which continued with clothes rationing ending in 1949 and with food years later in 1954. This showed the slow recovery of the British economy which was left bankrupted by years of conflict.

These years that followed were filled with confusion by the British public who had a disillusioned view of what the victory would mean for their day to day lives. Although roles reverted to how they were before the War, many felt out of place in this new social environment. Women who were at one point the backbone of the economy, replacing the roles of the men who had gone off to fight, found themselves out of jobs and expected to return to their domestic duties in the home. While children who had been evacuated from major cities were returned to their homes that were no longer there, and to families who they barely remembered, forever changed through experiences of the war.

Professor Mary Davis' view on women returning to the home after WWII and how government legislation and societal behaviours influenced this, ‘The wartime public exposure of women's double burden' was more significant than any of the very limited solutions. The war meant for women more of the same, except for the fact that conflict had temporarily broken the old patterns of job segregation. Nonetheless the war did raise women's expectations about the possibility of a better deal in the post-war reconstruction. Women's participation rates in the work force continued to increase, although their membership of trade unions dropped slightly. Deeply engrained prejudices about women's role were not entirely overcome during six years of warfare.’