Lance Corporal Robert Hill to his wife Dorothy "I was surprised to come across a big German gun set in a dry ditch at the side of the road" Date of letter: 16 June 1941
Captain David Pinkney to his family "I've entirely lost all track of when I last wrote and what letters I have replied to, but you'll just have to forgive that" Sent from: France Date of letter: 20 August 1944
Jimmy Pears to his parents John and Margaret “I was supposed with the help of a pair of binoculars to spot the shells land. I didn’t see anything, but I heard plenty” Sent from: Newcastle-upon-Tyne Date of letter: 8 February 1939
Lt Colin Ewart Angus to his brother David "Each time I think of the atrocities in the con[centration] camps I wonder where on earth they thought they were heading." Sent from: Hanover, Germany Date of letter: 5 May 1945
Robert Harty to his wife Irene "At long last it's all over, thank God for that... I'll be round for a Victory pint soon." Date of letter: 15 August 1945
J W Turner to his parents Frank and Minnie "I remember the glowing accounts of 1918 you used to tell us when we were children" Sent from: Italy Date of letter: 11 May 1945
Kenneth Stone’s VE Day menu "Menu: Collaborationist Soup" Sent from: Zeven, Germany Date of letter: 9 May 1945
Jock Carrie-Wilson to his parents "Once again I am behind barbed wire after having been free for 4 very good months." Sent from: Stalag 15 Date of letter: 23 January 1944
Corporal Henry Webb to his sister Lily "Just before it was really day light they started moving towards the beaches - Honestly it was a great sight - never to be forgotten. We actually could see the boys land a fight, it really was a grandstand view and I feel proud to have had the opportunity of seeing it." Sent from: Normandy, France Date of letter: 9 June 1944
Betty Skinner to her parents George and Frederika "Isn’t it wonderful now knowing that we have come to the end of those five gruesome years and we can almost begin to sit back. But I can’t imagine life ever feeling the same again as it did pre-war. Expect it will be the same as after the last, which you know more about than I do, and I can’t picture it as being too pleasant." Sent from: Near Monte Casino in Italy Date of letter: 6 May 1045
WAAF Sergeant Hazel Yarborough to her mother "The next day the entire unit had organised sports, a football match and then we went to a bathing lake and boated and swam and felt as if the war was really over." Sent from: Genval, near Brussels, Belgium
Frank Hodder to his fiancée Florence Green "Never mind, my sweet, this won't last for ever and we have quite a lot to look forward to, haven't we, when the war is over" Sent from: France Date of letter: 28 August 1944
Jack Soper to his sister Bett "Bitter cabbages and macaroni would taste lousy in a wedding cake" Sent from: Italy Date of letter: 8 July 1944
Edwin Stonestreet to his daughter Nanette "Having a day with naught to do / but celebrate – 'twas V.E. 2" Sent from: Holland Date of letter: 14 May 1945
John Scourse to his family "We missed all the VE day celebrations owing to the fact that we were at sea, but they have given us a very sincere welcome here and the general air of festivity gives us a good idea of what things were like at home." Date of letter: 29 May 1945
Lt. Gordon Bamford to his wife Nancy "We must not lower ourselves to the level of those for whose actions we have had some loathing and contempt. We must bear ourselves as humane conquerors who are trying to set the world on a safer sounder base for the benefit of all peoples." Sent from: Belgium Date of letter: 8 May 1945
Lt Col John Todhunter to his wife Angela "I felt the whole time that one had read about disasters at sea and no doubt would read about them again, but that it was impossible that such a thing should be happening to me personally." Sent from: Iceland Date of letter: 7 November 1941
Eddie McKenny to Mr & Mrs Lynes "If it wasn’t for the occasional crack of a gun there wouldn’t appear to be any war in this part of the world." Sent from: Belgium Date of letter: 18 November 1944
Lt John Payne to Peggy Burton "News from you of Elizabeth and yourself, the news in fact that she is to be christened Elizabeth Gordon, of which I do approve, has made me feel quite light headed" Sent from: POW camp, Italy Date of letter: 21 December 1942
Frank C Jones to his wife Rosa "Believe me Rosa it feels very strange to be in this country after passing through the others where we had a cheery smile and flowers thrown at us." Sent from: Germany Date of letter: 6 April 1945
Wesley Jones to his mother Hannah "What a sight them Yankee troops were to me who seen nothing but German soldiers for five years. I believe we all went hysterical, and can you blame us" Sent from: Poland
Dr Kenneth Daniels to his friend Jim Taylor "I treasure my memories of you all as I am certain you will come to treasure yours in the days ahead when all is peace again." Sent from: Italy Date of letter: 15 January 1946
Edward Daniels to his parents Mary and Glyn "For goodness sake don't worry, everything is all right and I am not hurt at all badly." Sent from: Wareham, Dorset
Donald Chapman to his mother and sister "The news was of the surrender of course, and in case you don’t known I ain’t fighting anyone no more; – no more guns; mines, or the other things which have scared the daylights out of me." Sent from: Germany Date of letter: 4 May 1945
Leonard Billingham to his wife Louie "As we happened to be the first three English boys in the town we nearly got mobbed. There was your husband, just plain Mr Billingham, signing the back of peoples photographs for souvenirs by the hundred. We were lucky to be the first lads in two of the most important towns in France." Sent from: France Date of letter: 2 September 1944
Vincent Crocker to his wife Hilda "Fancy one of our type houses being sold for 750 pounds – a nice little profit that shows, due to War prices. Sent from: Italy Date of letter: 1 August 1944
Sgt Richard Williams to his wife "I had hoped to be with you fate thought otherwise." Sent from: Sagan (now Żagań, Poland)
English (UK)English (UK)
