Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2009 | Page 48

life

THE ISLAND AT WAR 1939 - 1945

The Island celebrates
the end of six years
of war with Germany
We look at different aspects of the war which took place on the
island from 1939 - 1945. By June Elford

The Isle of Wight can be proud of its war record and the events
that took place between 1939 and 1945 will always be remembered as a time when the Islanders showed their true spirit.
So where were we? It’s May 7th, 1945,
and there’s still no official announcement
that the war is over. Then at 7.40 p.m the
BBC announced that “Tuesday (8 May
1945) will be treated as Victory in Europe
Day, and will be regarded as a holiday.”
At last the people of Britain could
celebrate the end of the six years of war
with Germany. On the Isle of Wight
windows popped open and dozens of
Union Jack flags were put outside and
strings of bunting and flags, some stored
since the Coronation, hung across streets.
Church bells rang, the ships anchored in
Cowes harbour were dressed overall and
their sirens sounded with the hooters at
the factories.
The 8th May was a warm sunny day
(for the first time in almost six years
the weather forecast was published in
the newspapers) and at 3 o’clock in the
afternoon the Prime Minister, Winston
Churchill, broadcast from Downing Street
to announce that hostilities with Germany
would officially cease at one minute past
midnight that night. It was a signal for
celebrations to start.
Women dressed up in anything they
could find that was red, white and blue,

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even little children in prams clutched a
small Union Jack flag, and the Island’s
towns and villages held children’s victory
tea parties. Long rows of tables were
set up in the streets and somehow the
organisers managed to find enough food
for often up to 80 children and after the
last sandwiches and buns had disappeared,
the children joined in the games, singing
and dancing. After dark the sky was lit
up by bonfires and fireworks, sometimes
with an effigy of Hitler hung on a gibbet
topping the fire. Not surprisingly, the
pubs started to run out of beer.
Many of the churches throughout the
Island held thanksgiving services and in
West Cowes 1,200 children marched with
a Royal Marines band to the recreation
ground for a programme of sports
followed by tea prepared by the Women’s
Voluntary Service and the Townswomen’s
Guild. In East Cowes 600 children
enjoyed a tea and sports organised at the
Saunders Roe sports ground while the
children from Great Preston Road in Ryde
were taken for a mystery charabanc tour
after their tea. At Chale the villagers
sports day was followed by a thanksgiving
service and tea for 250 people in a large

marquee.
The WVS, originally called the Women’s
Voluntary Service for ARP, was formed to
recruit women into Air Raid Prevention
work and their uniform, bottle-green
flecked with grey and wine-coloured
touches, was designed by the London
couturier Digby Morton. They had to pay
for their uniforms although they didn’t
draw any pay and with their motto, “The
WVS never say no,” it was a service of
‘no rank’, only jobs. But in September
1945 their work was done and around
150 women met for a farewell meeting at
Northwood House in Cowes to hear Mrs.
Wall, the centre organiser, thank them.
She said that for six years during the
war Island members had played a key role
wherever help was needed – fitting gas
masks, housing and feeding evacuees,
collecting salvage, taking patients to
hospital, providing tea when bombs had
fallen near Civil Defence workers on
duty, darning soldiers’ socks, and making
thousands of pounds of jam. Besides
many other duties they had staffed rest
centres and ran a Citizen’s advice bureau
and helped with the Christmas mail.
Everywhere things were being wound

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