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Kathy was 11 when VE Day was announced. At the time she lived with her mother and her three siblings in a block of flats in Edgeware, Middlesex. Her father was a driver for The Royal Signals regiment and he was stationed out in Burma for most of the war.

Kathy remembers her mum taking her into central London on VE Day. The two of them went by underground to The War Office and saw Churchill on the balcony making a statement to the crowds.

Then they went onto Buckingham Palace and stood among the crowds. She recalls hordes of people gathering outside the Palace, everyone was happy and laughing. As Kathy was only 11 at the time, she had difficulty seeing what was happening and remembers the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ crew at the time picked her up and put her on the bonnet of their van so she could get a better view.

She said she was disappointed as she assumed her father would return home from war that evening. But as he was stationed out in Burma, he didn’t come home until much later and by that time most of the homecoming celebrations were over.

Kathy remembers that her neighbours had a victory party shortly after VE Day (pictured).

Image: Kathy’s neighbours’ victory celebrations soon after VE Day

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