75 years on

75 years ago, on the day of “lockdown” my late father turned 21. A few weeks later he was, along with his naval colleagues, celebrating VE Day. I forget how young he was going off to war.

Our son has been sorting through piles of family photos and found these 2. Dad is the one pretending to be Churchill. The other is, according to the note on the back, with “Chippie” Green, propping up the Nile Bar, taken in May 1945.

Around the photos are the medals we’ve found. Dad did not talk about the war, the North Atlantic sorties, the Med. What he did have were great friendships that lasted over the years.

So we infer he was in North Africa ( Alexandria?) on VE Day.

Our late mother was in London. She had come over from Ireland (Cavan) as a nurse and worked south of London. She recalled being in London on VE night (Vauxhall Bridge?) being swept along in the crowds. But no photos.

Lots of memories and the day has brought home the length of the duration of the war and the hardships endured. Circumstances are different with Covid-19 but it does put our current challenges into perspective.

Lovely day and lots planted out – just in time to hear of air frost overnight in a few days!

In case you miss the daily flower photo, the extra is of some daffodils that are still going strong. Resilience in the plant life!