Wartime voices

The war in Europe ended on 7 May 1945 and the war against Japan ended on 15 August 1945 following the dropping of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki . There was immense relief. Street parties, huge bonfires and other celebrations were held all over the borough.

"Everything that could burn from the old bombed buildings, we burnt in the middle of the road and we had a good time."
Ronnie Elliott

"It melted all the tarmac in the road - nobody cared. It must have cost a fortune to put it all right!"
Margaret Clark

However, the devastation of years of bombing was going to take a long time to clear. There was a desperate shortage of housing, rationing continued until 1954 and young men were still drafted into compulsory National Service until 1960.

Ronnie Elliott was 17 at the end of the war and was called up the following year. He served in the Air Force and was stationed in Germany:

"At first it was devastating to go there and see all the bomb damage there - whole towns were bombed - Osnabruck , Cologne  - devastated. Believe it or not on these buildings there was bodies still underneath them and they had to leave them for years because of the disease."
Ronnie Elliott