Residents reflect on VE Day singing and dancing

People living in Devon have remembered the celebrations that followed the end of World War Two in Europe, which happened almost 80 years ago.

At the time, Beryl Darch was 10 years old and living in Tamerton Foliot. She said: "We heard all this noise outside the door and we thought 'what's going on?'

"It was the men walking down through the village with dustbins and saucepans banging and making a noise. Obviously it had been announced that the war in Europe was finished."

On 8 May 1945, at exactly 15:00 BST, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced the end of the war in Europe.

Ms Darch said she remembered a big party with special treats that included "lots of sandwiches and Mrs Reddicliff's green jelly".

"She always had green jelly, probably she brought a job lot before the war."

Marjorie Millington was a teenager at the time and went to a party in Plymouth.

"We went to Freedom Park in the evening.

"There was lots of singing and dancing because it was so exciting."

However, for some it was not yet time to celebrate.

Plymothian Shirley Stapley, who was 10 years old on VE Day, said the mood in her home was muted.

"Our family could not rejoice as much as other people simply because my cousins were prisoners of war of the Japanese and we didn't even know if they were still alive.

"Luckily of course three months later the Japanese surrendered and they both eventually came home."

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