VE Day remembered
At 3pm on 8 May, 1945, Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced to the nation that Germany had surrendered and the Second World War in Europe was over.
Across the country street parties, dancing, and celebrations took place as people rejoiced in the news they had been waiting and hoping for.
Four of our blind veterans share their memories of VE Day and what it means to them to celebrate 80 years on:
Janet’s childhood memories
Blind veteran Janet, 87, was just seven-years-old on VE Day. Her family lived in London at the time of the war. She remembers the bombings:
“It was exciting for me as we’d go down the garden and sleep in the shelter but for my parents, it must have been absolutely terrifying. The bombs shook the houses and blew the windows out.”
Janet remembers the party atmosphere on VE Day, the dancing, and the street parties. Perhaps you could hold a street party like Janet. She says:
“I got woken up and my mum put a scarf over my head as I had curlers in. We marched round the street for I suppose half an hour, there was singing but mostly I remember I was so embarrassed that I had curlers in my hair and that people would see them."
“We then had a street party a day or two afterwards; people had managed to save things from their rations and another lady had got lots of crepe paper and she’d made hats for the girls. We all sat on a long table in the street and had jelly and sandwiches and it was just excitement all round really.”
Blind veteran
Janet joined the Woman’s Royal Air Force in 1955 and served for two and a half years as a photographer, taking photos for identity cards. She was discharged as a Senior Aircraftwoman when she married. Her husband was also in the RAF and served for 29 years.
Around 11 years ago Janet lost her sight due to macular degeneration in both of her eyes. She began receiving support from us in 2018. She says:
“I joined up and haven’t looked back; the charity has done so much for me. The support I’ve had, along with the wonderful equipment I’ve been provided, has given me back some of my independence.
“Visiting the charity’s centres, is like going to heaven. I could spend all day in the arts and crafts room. The charity is wonderful, I can ring up if I am feeling fed up and ask if there is availability at the centres and then I can meet different people.”
Second World War veteran Nancy
103-year-old blind veteran Nancy joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in February 1942. She was selected for Officer Cadet Training and commissioned in August 1943 and was then stationed at a gun site in Swansea until the end of the Second World War.
Nancy now resides at our Rustington Centre. Nancy’s memories of VE Day are very different to what people may expect. There were no parties for Nancy. Her joy at hearing the news that the war in Europe was over was coupled with apprehension for her future as the war had given Nancy and many other women a new sense of freedom. She says:
“Planes hadn’t been coming over so frequently, so we thought something was happening. We had no proper news on the gun site but among ourselves we asked, “Is it coming to an end?”
“Among the men and women on the gun site, some were anxious to get home and get back to their families or get married and start a family. All the conversation was very mixed and very varied. Of course, all those people who’d had properties bombed, they would be glad when the war was over and there would be peace and no more bombing; they could start to rebuild their homes. And children who had been evacuees would be glad to go back to their mummies but it was all very confusing for me.
“I was just thinking, well I’ve got nothing to go back for. I didn’t want to go back to farming. I was the eldest, I had two younger sisters and a brother; they had stayed on the farm, so the farm was well looked after and my father was getting older so if I returned, he’d probably say – you’re not going anywhere now Nancy, you’re staying here and helping."
“After the life I’d been living, the freedom I’d had, and the money I’d had to spend as an officer, I didn’t want to go back, what was I going to do?”
Blind veteran
Nancy remembers herself and the other officers on the gun site being called in to see the captain. She recalls:
“He called us to his office and said be seated all of you. I’ve got the news that you’ve been waiting for and there was a big pause, he made us wait as if he was going to say, the war is going on for another year or two, we haven’t beaten them yet. We were sat there and didn’t say a word, we were too apprehensive, is it going to be peace or more war? And then he said “The war is over, peace has been declared."
“I don’t remember much more about VE Day itself; we were told of celebrations in London and that people were drinking, dancing and singing. But for us on the gun site we knew it meant no more work. VE Day was a day of mixed emotions for me. No drinking and laughter but instead planning in my head and trying to work out what to do next.”
Blind veteran
The war gave Nancy and many women like her the opportunity to do things they had never done before and now 80 years on as we look ahead to the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Nancy recognises how herself and others set the pathway for women of the future and pushed forward changes for equality. She is now looking forward to celebrating the anniversary at our Rustington Centre alongside her fellow blind veterans.
Second World War veteran Peggy
Peggy, who was 23 at the time of VE Day, worked as a linguist for the Women’s Royal Naval Service, intercepting German radio traffic.
Stationed in a solitary direction-finding tower, Peggy spent nights transcribing codes without understanding their significance.
“You went across during the afternoon with coats and blankets, books and enough food and drink to last you through until breakfast the next morning, because you had to be in there all night. Just you. It was like an old windmill without sails, about the size of a normal lavatory. I took down pages of four-figure code. And I didn’t have a clue what it was about.”
Peggy lost her sight due to macular degeneration and has received our support since 2018. She says:
“Blind Veterans UK give you so many gadgets to help. I have a talking watch and a talking bedside clock as well as a machine that reads my letters.
“I do a regular telephone quiz and I go to coffee mornings. They really do everything.”
Peggy's diary
Peggy wrote a diary throughout the Second World War and has shared her entry from VE Day:
Geoff came up in the morning, we went to get petrol coupons then looked for coffee but everything was shut on account of VE Day. Yes the war is over but the agony has been so prolonged that it’s rather an anti-climax. Had lunch with Geoff, heard him, Churchill, announce the end of the war at 3pm. Had intended to go to the flicks but it was pleasant to just sit and talk. Geoff is so entirely unchanged, it seems impossible that he was away so long. Three of the most eventful years of my life and it’s as though they have never been. After tea, we went for a walk. Heard the King speak at 9 o’clock, set off home about 10pm.
You could complete a walk just like Peggy did on VE Day and fundraise for our blind veterans.
Evelyn described VE Day as “one of the finest days of my life”
Evelyn sadly died in 2012 at the age of 91. She was a young woman at the time of the Second World War and joined the ATS in search of adventure. Evelyn spoke to us in 2005, for the 60th anniversary of VE Day and shared her memories of her time during the war and VE Day itself which she said at the time remained “crystal clear” in her memory as a “day of sheer joy.”
Although Evelyn is no longer with us, her memories really give a sense of that day 80 years ago. Of her life during the war, she said:
“I loved every moment of this far from comfy life, particularly meeting and making countless friends from all walks of life. I must not forget that I was able to do my bit to defeat Hitler throughout the war. Serving in Ack-Ack signals meant periods of plotting enemy aircraft from a gun operations room. Directing our anti-aircraft guns when to fire and when the Germans were overhead was occasionally quite heart-stopping.”
In Evelyn’s diary from 7 May, 1945, she writes that at night they heard that VE Day was to be tomorrow and her entry from the following day describes it as one of the finest days of her life.
When she spoke in 2005, Evelyn said:
“We danced, cheered, waved, laughed, cried, and sang our hearts out, between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square – hugging and being hugged, kissing and being kissed over and over again.
“I also remember we went down the Mall to Buckingham Palace – dancing all the way. As for seeing Winston Churchill that was so moving and unforgettable.”
For the 80th anniversary of VE Day on 8 May 2025, we are asking people to join together with their friends, families and communities to celebrate the anniversary and organise a fundraising event to raise money for our blind veterans, many of whom lived through the Second World War and remember the atmosphere of VE Day.
Perhaps you could hold a street party with food and decorations that they would have enjoyed 80 years ago, host a Brew Up, take part in a War Memorial Walk, or maybe use the number 80 as your inspiration and cycle 80 miles or bake 80 cupcakes.
Have our veterans memories inspired you to host your own celebration for the 80th anniversary of VE Day or to organise a fundraiser to support our blind veterans?