Essay 7 of 7 - War’s End

Reminiscences from the period of WW2.
A collection of seven essays.

Author - Brian E. Dowden - born 8th. October 1933.

Introduction

Both during and after the war I lived on an estate built by the (then) London County Council in Carshalton, Surrey. I was thus some 10 to 15 miles away from the London areas that suffered worst in the blitz, but yet close enough to be affected by the war on a day-to-day basis. Noted below are my recollections of the period.

Essay 7 of 7 - War’s End.

Following the post D-Day army break-out from Normandy there was rapid allied progress towards Calais and Antwerp. This meant that significantly fewer flying bombs or V1 devices were launched against S. E. England; however as the doodle-bug menace was being overcome, so the German scientists and engineers perfected the V2 rocket which was also aimed at the London area. The overall scene then in, say, August 1944 was one in which the parental tension associated with a return home was becoming less than that associated with continuing evacuation. The result was that many families, my own included, returned home in mid-September.

Following our return home the remaining war period had little personal impact on the Dowden family. The doodle-bug menace rapidly ceased, V2 rockets were simply accepted as a fact of life, and the sudden sound of a distant explosion meant that you were a survivor - at least as far as that rocket was concerned. From our viewpoint at home the war in Europe was drawing to a satisfactory conclusion and we could relax. Then, locations such as Belsen were liberated by Allied armies, and we saw newsreel footage of the dying, piles of the dead, and the instruments and causes of death in the German concentration camps. I recall that we all felt that the war was worth fighting, if only to stop the obscene activities of a part of the German nation that, even now, mere words cannot adequately condemn. Soon afterwards the war in Europe ended and I can recall walking up Winchcombe Road with the thought - “I will live”. What a way for an eleven years-old boy to think!

At the conclusion of the war in Europe the government declared the following day to be ‘Victory in Europe’ Day or VE Day. And how we celebrated. During the day I went to London and I recall being swept through the West End by a crush of revellers so dense that I was able (stupidly) to lift both feet momentarily from the ground without sinking downwards. Back home, bunting and flags were put up in the street, a large bonfire was built in the middle of the road, and this was lit in the evening. Perhaps the size and hence also heat from the bonfire were proportional to peoples feelings, because the fire set alight the road surface over an area about one metre in radius greater than that of the fire itself. For the next few days council workmen were busy repairing the road damage caused by both our fire and those of many other groups of people.

After VE Day our minds were concentrated on the war with Japan, and it was with tremendous pleasure and relief that we greeted the dropping of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the years since these bomb attacks, many people have been very critical of these U.S. actions - even to the point of referring to those who suffered the consequences of these events as innocent victims of unnecesary aggression. As one who well remembers the feelings of the ordinary people in my locality at that time I repeat, we were both pleased and relieved. Pleased that the known barbaric behaviour of the Japanese forces towards their prisoners and others was now ending, and relieved that our own military forces would not now be confronted with the daunting prospect of invading the home islands of Japan. At that time it was believed that invasions of the Japanese home islands would have resulted in about one million allied casualties, and of course also a considerable number of Japanese killed and wounded. We therefore believed that the dropping of the atomic bombs saved (in total) both Japanese and allied lives, and personally I do not accept as valid the strictures of those, usually not alive at the time, who are vehemently critical of these actions. Indeed I am certain that any one of those I knew at the time,when the war was fresh in our memories, would have happily flown the Enola Gay and her sister bomber on their fateful missions to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Following the surrender of Japan there were VJ celebrations that were a repeat of those on VE Day, except that on this occasion our bonfire was located on a grassed area at the top of Winchcombe Road.

Following VE Day and VJ Day the government decreed a V Day. Unlike the dates on which the wars in Europe and Asia were concluded the date for V Day was planned in advance. On this day arrangements were made for children to be sat at trestle tables, given a party hat, and treated to a frugal party type of meal. After all that had gone before, it was a very unmemorable occasion.

In conclusion, it was in 1946 that I was unexpectedly met outside school by a much loved uncle who had just returned from his war service in the Far East. The uncle was thin, and his face was yellow as a result of the conditions relating to his activities in Burma, but he was alive and home again. For me, it was at that time that the war was finally over.

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