Seventy-five years ago today, the war in Europe against Nazi Germany and her allies came to an end. There was joy and rejoicing in the streets of many cities, towns, villages, and in individual households in the Allied nations ... but from what I have gathered from the reminiscences of many who were serving overseas, there were few if any celebrations.
My father was in Wismar on the Baltic coast with other units of the UK’s 6th Airborne Division. After 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion had shot their way past a German roadblock on the outskirts of the city, the leading elements of the division had entered Wismar by 9.00am on 2nd May ... only seven hours ahead of the Russians, who arrived from the east at 4.00pm.
A rather uneasy peace then ensued, with the Russians demanding that the city be handed over, and the British politely but firmly refusing. There was even an armed confrontation between several drunken Russian soldier who wanted to get into the city to ‘entertain’ some of the local women and the Paras manning the checkpoint between the areas occupied by the erstwhile allies. This resulted in an exchange of gunfire and the death of several Russians. On the day before VE Day, the troops in Wismar were visited by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky, and this calmed the situation somewhat, and on 1st July the British troops withdrew, and the Russian occupied the city.
My father-in-law spent VE-Day in the Far East as part of the Allied armies fighting the Japanese. He was always very bitter about previous celebrations of VE-Day, and I’m sure that if he were still alive, he would have complained long and loudly about this year’s muted one. He always felt that VJ-Day was just as important ... but was always either played down or ignored.
So today, when we remember that joyous day, let us also remember those who were not at home with their loved ones, for example:
My father was in Wismar on the Baltic coast with other units of the UK’s 6th Airborne Division. After 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion had shot their way past a German roadblock on the outskirts of the city, the leading elements of the division had entered Wismar by 9.00am on 2nd May ... only seven hours ahead of the Russians, who arrived from the east at 4.00pm.
A rather uneasy peace then ensued, with the Russians demanding that the city be handed over, and the British politely but firmly refusing. There was even an armed confrontation between several drunken Russian soldier who wanted to get into the city to ‘entertain’ some of the local women and the Paras manning the checkpoint between the areas occupied by the erstwhile allies. This resulted in an exchange of gunfire and the death of several Russians. On the day before VE Day, the troops in Wismar were visited by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky, and this calmed the situation somewhat, and on 1st July the British troops withdrew, and the Russian occupied the city.
My father-in-law spent VE-Day in the Far East as part of the Allied armies fighting the Japanese. He was always very bitter about previous celebrations of VE-Day, and I’m sure that if he were still alive, he would have complained long and loudly about this year’s muted one. He always felt that VJ-Day was just as important ... but was always either played down or ignored.
So today, when we remember that joyous day, let us also remember those who were not at home with their loved ones, for example:
- The Allied troops who were fighting around Rangoon in Burma
- The Australian troops fighting the Japanese on New Guinea in order to capture Wewak and thus gain control of the last remaining port on the island
- The American Marines who were fighting against the Japanese on Okinawa
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteMy Father remembered well the surrender of the Japanese in the Pacific. Dad served in the AIF at Moratai- later he was asked if he'd join the Occupation Force to Japan- he declined and came home to Sydney on a DC-3...this is all I know. Dad passed away in 1993. Regards. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteMy father was slated to go to the Far East after the war in Europe ended. 6th Airborne Division ended up being sent to Palestine, but my father was detached to form part of the British Training Mission sent to Burma to train the new Burmese Army. He remained there until after India and Pakistan gained independence, when he returned home.
All the best,
Bob
I wore my maternal grandfathers glengarry last night for the NHS Clap. I never really new him as I was still a toddler when he died.
ReplyDeleteHe served in the 1st Battalion Royal Scots in both Palestine and India before hostilities broke out in 1914 and was brought back to the UK for service on the Western Front.
He was a company piper as well as a Temperance Soldier. He was awarded the Military Cross for rescuing a wounded comrade in no-mans land.
Jim Duncan,
DeleteThat was a very appropriate thing to do.
Your grandfather’s battalion had a rather varied history during the Great War, serving as it did both on the Western Front and Salonika.
He must have been a brave man to win a gallantry medal. Rescuing a fallen comrade whilst under fire requires real selfess courage.
All the best,
Bob
Bob, how do you feel re these 'celebrations' that are taking place today? I am personally very uncomfortable with it at this time of so many deaths from covid 19, bunting hanging out, tea and cakes in the front garden etc, perpetuated by the Govt and the BBC, it's propaganda mouthpiece. I will of course remember those who lost their lives in the War, but I certainly won't be celebrating it.
ReplyDelete‘Lee,
DeleteMy wife and I aren’t celebrating today, although we are using it as an opportunity to remember the members of our families who served during the war.
The whole idea of having street parties etc., seems wrong, especially during the current pandemic. I would have preferred something more along the lines of Remembrance Day.
All the best,
Bob
Fascinating account of your father's VE day adventures. Proof if it were needed that all the elements of the Cold War were very much in place before WW2 was even over.
ReplyDeleteLandlubber66,
DeleteMy father told me that as they got closer to Wismar, the German civilians in villages they passed through pointed eastwards and shouted ‘Russkis! Russkis! in the belief that the British were going to fight the Russians.
All the best,
Bob
Interesting comments. I too hope some marking of VJ Day is made. My maternal grandad's medals were out on the mantelpiece and his photo in Navy Uniform in our front window today as the British Legion suggested, surrounded with a few strings of Union Jack bunting. Looking at his photo album, as I never met him, he saw or took part in the VE Day celebrations in Alexandria In Egypt before his aircraft carrier headed to the Far East and survived the Kamikaze threat. I think my late Mum would have approved of us marking the day quietly. An evacuee, she didn't see him for years at a time during the war. This separation so young from her parents left an indelible impression on her and she rarely talked about her war experiences as a child. Her childhood photo sat on her backyard Anderson shelter was in the window alongside that of her Dad. At least her Dad did finally come home sometime after VJ Day.
ReplyDeleteThere was the two minutes silence this morning at Balmoral with Prince Charles, Remembrance style, with original silent film footage shown through the two minutes and the Queens address tonight, both handled respectfully, the Queens ATS hat placed on the desk. There was some bunting and flags up in our village alongside the Rainbows when I walked round tonight in my "permitted exercise" hour but all things were muted by lockdown.
It is a tricky mood or atmosphere to get right, VE Day versus mid Pandemic.
At least after VE Day, the threat to Civilians on the Home Front was finally over. As someone pointed out, thirty thousand plus deaths and growing from Coronavirus since March will soon be half the 70,000 plus civilian deaths in the U.K. during all of WW2. Already America has passed its number of Vietnam war dead which seemed to their journalists to be an important statistical marker. Sobering numbers. Strange times.
Keep safe and best wishes. Mark Man of TIN
Mark, Man of TIN,
DeleteThank you for sharing the stories about your grandfather and mother with me. I don’t think that many of the younger generation have any concept of the ways in which the Second World War affected ordinary people. Families had to accept that they could be separated from one another for years, with only the occasional letter to break the silence. My father left home in 1944, and didn’t return to see his parents until 1947. When he walked through the front door, his mother greeted him with the words ‘You’re back then.’ No tears; no effusive greetings; no hugs and kisses. He’d left home as an 18-year-old and returned as a 21-year-old veteran NCO.
I thought that the Queen got it right in her address to the nation. It was a respectfully solemn remembrance of the sacrifices that generation made, and a reminder that until the pandemic passes, we will also have to willingly accept the necessary restrictions that will help get us through it.
As a member of the 70+ group, I’ve been taking great care to avoid coming into contact with other people, and trying to make the best of things. Like everyone else, I hope that the lockdown will be lifted as soon as possible ... but I’d rather stay in lockdown and save lives than risk catching and spreading this dreadful virus.
Keep safe and keep well,
Bob
My dad and his fellow crew members had been grounded in Europe midway through their 2nd tour (number 38). With the European war over they would now be on their way to Canada to start training on the latest long range Lancaster. They were assigned to one of the 30 Commonwealth Heavy Bomber Squadrons allocated to bring the war to Japan. They were still deployed in western Canada when word came, announcing the surrender of Imperial Japan. Happy VE day to all, and Happy Victory Day to our Soviet allies.
ReplyDeleteRhingley,
DeleteThanks for sharing your father’s story. To survive one tour with a Bomber Command was remarkable ... and to be taking part in a second one was exceptional. You must be thankful that the war against Japan ended before he had to see action again.
All the best,
Bob