THIS was a scene repeated all over the country. It was VE (Victory in Europe) Day and families who had suffered six years of war were determined to celebrate.

The Second World War had finally ended after Germany surrendered to Britain and her Allies.

This picture was taken on May 8, 1945, as people on the Risinghurst estate in Oxford poured joyfully on to the streets to enjoy a tea party.

In the early months of 1945 Allied advances on all fronts had given a glimpse of victory, and community leaders had been able to make plans for bonfires, firework displays and thanksgiving parades. Germany’s unconditional surrender on May 7 was the signal for the party to begin and for those tentative plans to be put in place.

Houses were decked with flags and bunting, street parties were organised, unofficial bonfires lit and impromptu dances held in towns and villages.

People seized the chance to let their hair down and forget the miseries and deprivations of the previous six years.

Joyous, often tipsy crowds filled the streets, sang popular songs and danced on the roofs on the now-redundant air raid shelters. With the blackout over, major Oxford buildings were floodlit for the first time since 1939 and, in the countryside, lights shone again from cottage windows.

The picture above comes from Michael Siggery, now of Lytton Road, Cowley, who took part in the Risinghurst celebrations as an 11-yearold boy. He recalls: “It all happened around the Ampleforth Arms pub. We had street parties and bonfires in the road. Everyone was very happy.”

The Oxford Mail headline in its final edition on May 7, ‘Germany Surrenders’, said it all. The following day, the Mail’s special Victory Edition carried a picture of American GIs and Oxford postwomen celebrating outside the Midland Bank at Carfax.

In an editorial the paper said: “The day we have longed for is here; the curtain has been rung down on Hitler’s Reich which was ‘to last for 1,000 years;’ and after nearly six years of ‘blood, toil, sweat and tears’ the bells ring out proclaiming victory.”

  • Does anyone else remember the Risinghurst VE Day celebration? Write and let me know.