The bunting is up on the railings at St Paul’s to commemorate VE Day in 1943, and the bell was rung at 7 pm, in line with “church bells rung throughout the nation and around the world in celebration of the peace and friendship we share today”.
Members of our congregation are sharing their memories of this momentous occasion. Mollie is the first!
Mollie’s memories of VE Day
I had not long returned from evacuation to what was then Lancashire, and my baby sister was three weeks old. (She is 75 now!) Our school in Epsom, Rosebery County Girls school, was named for Lord Rosebery and had racing connotations. It was the school’s birthday on May 7th and we had the day off. We all went back in the evening for a concert put on by the 6th form. At the end our headmistress, Miss Hall, fondly known as JK, came on the platform and announced “The war is over”. The next day May 8th was to be a holiday too. A great cheer went up and we all left on a high.
As we went through Epsom, waiting for the bus to go home, there were cheering crowds milling around everywhere. We had never seen anything like it. I don’t remember much about the next day , but I know we were all very excited and relieved that it was over, but mindful that the war still went on in the far east.
St Paul’s decked out for VE Day 
