V E (Victory in Europe) Day

Although I was only ten years of age at the time I do remember that day as it was such a special day. We had lived through almost six years of warfare with its air raids, the threat of bombs and the V1 and V2 rockets, the rationing of food and clothing, and missing the many called away from home for military service, some not to return. There were shortages of almost everything and we were encouraged to grow food at home with slogans like 'Dig for Victory'. They were frightening days living in the blackout and with no road signs which were taken away to confuse the invading enemy. Fruits, like oranges and bananas, were unknown. There was even a song, 'Yes, we have no bananas'! Fortunately apples were home-grown and available from time to time.

My younger brother, Robin, and I were boarders at Fulneck Boys' School and the Headmaster was the late Br L J Britton. It must have been the half-term school holiday, for on that particular day, which was a lovely sunny Tuesday, our mother decided to take us to the house and park at Temple Newsam on the other side of Leeds. When returning home we had to change trams in City Square (there were trams in Leeds in those days) and there we heard the news and saw the noticeboards saying, 'War over in Europe'. We could feel the excitement in the air. People began to put up their Union flags - we hung ours on a pole stuck out of a bedroom window when we got home.

Germany had suffered under the Nazi regime for many years and as a result of the bombing by the Allies many of the German towns and cities were completely ruined. Some of the people there were relieved and thankful when General Alfred Jodl (Army), representing the German President, Admiral Karl Doenitz, signed an agreement to an unconditional surrender. It was then that our Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, declared in a radio broadcast that 'we may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing'. That rejoicing had to be brief because although the war was over in Europe it continued in the far East until 15th August when the Japanese Emperor signed an unconditional surrender.

It was only later that some of the horrors of warfare and the depravity of the Nazi war machine came to the general knowledge of the British public. The slaughter of millions of Jewish people in the Holocaust and the treatment of prisoners of war are war crimes that must never be forgotten.

Our newspapers at the time of V E Day were full of pictures of people celebrating the peace and I remember a photo of Buckingham Palace with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and the Prime Minister Winston Churchill on the balcony acknowledging the cheers of the many thousands of people. I know I went into Leeds sometime later in order to join the vast crowds who wanted to see Winston Churchill on the steps of Leeds Town Hall. There was so much for which to be thankful. We had come through the Battle of Britain when might so easily have been overcome by a Nazi invasion. As I say they were frightening days, and we have so much for which to be thankful.

It is truly wonderful that we have such a good working relationship with our Brothers and Sisters in Germany. I pay tribute to Br Clarence Shaw who did much to keep alive the spirit of brotherhood between the Moravian churches of Britain and the Continent. May the Unity we share bring blessing and peace as we celebrate the eightieth anniversary of V E Day.

Br John McOwat

Bishop of the Unity