Today is the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, the end of World War II in Europe. Three memories come to mind.
Rationing: Even though I was only five when the war ended, I was aware of rationing. I still remember having a good time skipping up and down the concrete stepping stones in our front yard. I knew that some things were hard to buy and felt grateful that our stones hadn’t been affected, so as I skipped I starting singing,
You can’t buy
stepping stones
in wartime.
I was surprised when my mother said that wasn’t true, they weren’t affected by the war. Concrete seemed so important to me that I couldn’t understand why that would be true. We moved from that house when I was about four and half years old, so that must have been 81 years ago, and I still remember it.
War Movies: I remember watching The March of Time newsreels about the war and world events around that time, and also watching a ton of war movies afterwards. For years when I was playing outside and a plane flew overhead I would partially duck and check to make sure no bombs were being dropped.
The Attitude of Europeans: This was in 1960 when I was in Stanford in Germany from January though June and spent another six weeks hitchhiking with a friend before flying back home. A lot of the people we met went out of their way to be hospitable, mainly because of America’s part in the liberation.
That was a long time ago and things have changed, are changing, a lot.
Most of you are a lot younger than I am, but do you have any feelings/memories connected to the war?
May 8, 2025
Not personal, as in my being.
Rather my father from WW1 losing part of his leg (I think left) shot in the foot, antibiotic not available. Living a vastly different life when he returned home.
In recent months I’ve read a lot of novels based on WW2 … mostly about the people left at home but also about spies, both men and women. A number of interesting wartime gals who both served in the forces, became factory hands, land girls, children evacuated ti tge countryside. Books loosly based on British Isles, Europe and the USA.
Rationing in the UK lasted well into the 1950s.
God bless.
I remember you telling me stories, and it seems so strange that it has been 80 years.
…back then, we weren’t the Ugly Americans!
I was born long after WW II ended. About the only thing I can think of was my dad was in the Army Air Corp and his training ended just as the war was ending so he never saw action.
My mom would tell me stories about the rationing – I always listened.
A few years ago, while going through some of my mom’s and dad’s things, I found a couple of books used for rationing purposes. I found them to be very interesting. I can’t imagine the things that our parents lived through.
My dad fought in WW11 and met mum in England during the war. Dad never talked about the war but I think it changed him, turned him into an angry, fearful man (or maybe he was always like that, who knows). Mum would tell us stories, but not many. She missed her final exams because of a bombing raid, and she was most thankful for that. She didn’t want to write the exams.
And now, it seems the world is ramping up for another world war, because we’re so smart and think it will be different this time? I’m tired of the world right now.
My father was in the South Pacific during WWII. What I know about is is what I’ve read. He didn’t talk about it.
I’m 73 and I don’t have any memories of World War II.
My father was in the Navy at the end of WWII. He never talked about it. The only story he ever told me was about this friend of his who had a monkey…on the ship! When his friend was discharged he left the monkey with my dad. But the monkey loved shiny things and, for example, he stole the glasses (govt. wire rims–I still have my dad’s) off of guys and tried to smash them or throw them around. He gave the monkey away next time they were in port. The only reason he told me this was because I was talking about how cool it would be to have a monkey. (Back then they sold them in pet shops–sad, but true.) I was born in 1951 so I have no personal memories of WWII…just the cold war where we hid under our desks for bomb drills. Tornado drills we went out in the hallway. Those drills were very similar…something could kill you and you covered your head and rolled into a ball.
I was born in 1947 in the Navy hospital in Cuba so the closest I can come to a memory about WWII is playing dress up in Dad’s old Navy uniforms.
Not me, I am 76. My husband was very young, he was born in 1940.
During the war my mom took care of a couple of boys whose mother worked long hours in a factory making something for the war. So my memories of the war were of having 2 extra brothers. My real brother went around the neighborhood with his wagon collecting metal for the war effort.
My parents often spoke how they were affected by the War. Imagine, my mother and her friends not being able to purchase nylons, yet they painted seams on the back of their legs. Not until years later did their experiences touch me … probably due to the many films I watched, most notably Saving Private Ryan.