A poem by Olive Sculthorpe on VE Day

This poem was written in 1945 by my grandmother who is now 95. It captures the moment and the feeling in the village in Sutton, Cambridgeshire.

Transcript:

VE Celebrations in Sutton

The flag-decked streets the dense crowd throng,
And now and then take up a song;
'Rule Britannia', and some such strain;
Then comes a pause - they cheer again!
To the old church upon the hill,
The people flock, its seats to fill,
Uniting in thanksgiving prayer -
Remembrance of the fallen - there
Is silence, then all sing a hymn,
A hymn of German origin,
Nun danket aller Gott - but still
All sing out with exultation,
On this day of celebration
Then out into the streets once more,
A merrier crowd than o'er before,
Then to the hill the great mass rushes,
"The Painter", all complete with brushes,
They burn; with whizzes and loud bangs
The fireworks fly like boomerangs,
Among the crowds; Now Hilter's burning,
And the yellow flames are yearning
To reach upon his straw stuffed head,
His bowler hat - then Hitler's dead!
The festive spirit's in the air
Everyone's gay, they have no care!
Everyone? No! there falls a tear,
For husband, son, who can't be here;
For England and her glorious cause
He met his death without a pause
To think of self, and so he gave
His life the Motherland to save.
Towards the church all eyes then gaze
To see its towers all ablaze
With light. All of their church were proud,
The cheers they gave it long and loud.
The revellers now straggle home,
At last the church stands all alone
Its towers still ablaze with light,
Silhouetted 'gainst the night.
VE-Day was very great fun
And soon we'll have another one!

[Olive Blinch, Upper I Va]

Tagged:
VE Day

Contributed by:
Jen Elliott

Back to list