September 9th, 2009
I Remember V-J Day and the end of World War 2
Sixty-four years ago, and we had been married not quite three months.
I was at a friend's beach house, looking after her children
when I heard what sounded like a locomotive
roaring down the winding road that led from the highway
to the beach.
I shaded my eyes, and around the corner came our sporty yellow roadster,
(with rumble seat)
carrying two sporting looking Airforce officers
who had attached a locomotive whistle
to the exhaust of the sporty yellow car.
(with wire wheels)
In celebration!
Here is Charles, standing by the roadster that day
smiling happily.....
He and his friend, a boy he had grown up with
and who had enlisted with him on the same day
in 1942
toured the town
whistle blowing
rejoicing
and grieving for the brothers
who lay buried in Europe
and would never be there to celebrate.
Thank you to Sally for hosting Remember Whensday.
Click here for more remembrances.
That is a fine picture of Charles next to his roadster. It must have been exciting to celebrate the end of war.
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What a great moment when they came home! He sure was (IS!) a handsome guy. Nobody in my family, except my maternal grandad and an uncle by marriage, went off to war as farmers were exempt from call-up.
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ReplyDeleteWhile I am not quite old enough to remember much about
ReplyDeleteWW II, (I was born in '40) I can remember a few things. I remember being woken up one night in 1945-46 by my uncle. He was beaming with pride and joy. His only son, my cousin, whom I'd never met, had just returned from the war. He arrived by train - no way of knowing how many hours or days it took him to arrive at our farm on the Prairies. I don't know if I was more impressed by meeting him for the first time, or the uniform he was wearing! I do hope, Charles and Hildred, that you will continue with your wonderful recollections. In turn you have stirred some recollections for me too and that's a good thing.
I look forward to many more of your recollections!
That must have been a wonderful day - knowing that the war was ended and Charles was safely back home - especially since you say he was a Lancaster bomber pilot. I know that the bomber crews had a very high casualty rate. That's a lovely photo of Charles - is there one of you from the same era?
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