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As the 80th anniversary of VE Day approaches, Kingston School of Art Humanities fellow Dr. Steven Woodbridge takes a look back at how Kingston celebrated the end of the Second World War, looking at news reports from the time.

How was VE (Victory in Europe) Day celebrated in Kingston during May in 1945? As we recall the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, it is fascinating to revisit descriptions of the original events. In reality, there were two full days of celebrations (8-9 May), with many people determined to enjoy every moment of the 48 hours of festivities, parties and merriment.

The official announcement made by Churchill’s wartime government in late April that there would be a V for Victory Day on May 8, with two days’ public holiday for all, was initially greeted with a degree of caution. Nevertheless, just a few days later, the Surrey Comet noted that enthusiastic preparations for the big day had soon become evident in Kingston’s town centre, with residents adamant they would embrace the Victory celebrations in every way they could, despite rationing and other hardships. According to the Comet, one shop in Kingston had sold “its entire quota of flags” within two hours of offering them for sale. Another shop was also selling tricolour ribbon “at the rate of miles a day”, to be used for V-Day bunting.

Indeed, the Comet itself was soon swept up in the sheer joy and exhilaration that greeted the official end of the war in Europe. This was on full display in the edition of the Comet published shortly after VE-Day, which carried extensive coverage of the two days of excitement and celebrations from across the town. In an editorial entitled Peace and the Future, the newspaper proclaimed “Peace has come again in Europe, peace and victory, victory for which, let it never be forgotten, we laid the original foundation stones when alone we faced the embattled might of Germany”. 

Dismay and fear had given way to “joy and optimism”, said the Comet, and it suggested that perhaps those who had most enjoyed the two day’s holiday were the children. “For them there were innumerable street tea parties. That was appropriate”, the paper added, “for the war has been a cheerless period in very many ways for them, and any extra jollification that could in small measure make up for the lack of the sweets, toys, cakes and fireworks of peace time was their due”. 

The paper observed that “Children’s tea parties, dancing and bonfires – all in the streets – that was the way in which the Allies’ victory over the Nazis was celebrated on Tuesday and Wednesday in every town in the neighbourhood”. There were thanksgiving services in all the churches, much fraternising in the streets and “no lack of conviviality in the public houses”.

More than 50 bonfires had blazed in Kingston “and the vicinity shone on VE night”. Around the bonfires “large crowds danced and sang until the early morning”. After 5 years of blackouts, restrictions and no street-lights, the freedom to be able to light up the streets must have been particularly joyous for local townspeople. According to the Comet, Malden beat all its neighbours by having its street-lamps fully alight for the first time since 1939. Similarly, in Kingston town centre, the Guildhall was illuminated and All Saints Church floodlit. The Surrey County Hall “also made a striking spectacle in the soft glow of powerful electric beams”.

The newspaper carried colourful descriptions of the range and amount of festivities. Tuesday afternoon and early evening “saw the first of a large number of street tea parties, some long planned, some hurriedly arranged”, but all highly successful. In many streets dancing developed and music “came from radiograms, pianos, accordions, concertinas and violins”. The Comet added “Probably the most brilliantly lighted street in Kingston – and one of the most profusely decorated – was Asylum Road, Norbiton… From end to end streamers crossed the road and flags were displayed from practically every window”. Ropes of coloured electric lights crossed the road at frequent intervals and dozens of people danced until the early hours. A “substantial bonfire’” was lit and “someone seemed to have discovered a store of fireworks!”

In the Comet’s estimation, throughout Kingston, hundreds of children attended parties “at which there were games, races and other entertainments for them”. The Mayor and Mayoress of Kingston cut an iced victory cake, bearing the flags of Britain, America and Russia. Moreover, there was “an enormous rush on ice cream served at most of the children’s parties in Kingston’s streets”. The taste of victory must have been very sweet for both young and old alike, and there were plenty of photos taken of proud mothers surrounded by their happy children.

From eyewitness accounts, the sheer exhilaration of being able to sing and dance in the streets was especially satisfying for people, and really brought home how freedom had returned after five years of uncertainty and sacrifice. It was abundantly clear that many thousands of people from across Kingston enthusiastically embraced the VE celebrations, and did so because they knew they were making history in every sense of the word.

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