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Woman, 94, remembers 'all the excitement' of VE Day

Alexandra Bassingham
BBC News, West of England
Family handout Mary on a beach, wearing a smart blazer and smiling at the camera. Family handout
Mary Grist was 14 during the VE Day celebrations and remembers the excitement on the day

Mary Grist was 14 when the end of World War Two in Europe was announced, and said her main memory of the day is "all the excitement" during the celebrations.

Now 94, and living in Middlefields House care home, Chippenham, she said in retrospect, she really did not feel old enough to understand everything at the time.

"When war broke out, schools shut and children were divided into groups and evacuated, taken away from their family but not of their own free will, I must admit," said Mrs Grist.

She said she remembered that VE Day was a "jolly time, and that some people were going quite crazy". Commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day will take place from 5 - 8 May.

Family handout Mary, on the right, wearing checked blouse with what looks like a double string pearl necklace. Her hair is short and styled. She is with her husband Philip, on the left, wearing round glasses and a suit jacket, shirt and tie. They are both looking at the camera, in a posed photograph. The image is in black and white. Family handout
Mrs Grist, pictured with her husband Philip, now lives in Chippenham

Mrs Grist, who lived in Highbury, London, with her parents and older sister, moved to live with her aunt and uncle in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, alongside her mother and sister. Her father – a pastor - remained in Highbury for work.

However, she said Aylesbury was "not a happy situation" as her aunt and uncle – who had no children - "didn't know really how to deal with us".

"My aunt was an important person in the county but we were just in fear of her and kept away from her," she added.

Mrs Grist said this led to awkward situations with their relatives but they pressed on and joined in with locals where they could.

As schools gradually began to re-open, she said "thankfully" they were able to go back to Highbury.

Family handout Mary in two black and white photographs as a teenager. On the left, she is in between her mother and father. Her father is wearing a suit, shirt and tie, and her mother is wearing a dress. Mary is in a blouse and A-line skirt. On the right, Mary is centre with her sister on the right. Her friend is on the left. Mary and her sister are wearing white blouses and grey skirts and the friend is wearing a white apron. Family handout
Mrs Grist as a teenager with her parents (left photo) and pictured middle with her sister to her right (right photo)

After only having seen pictures of London during the war, Mrs Grist said going back they found that "much had changed".

Her father sometimes checked up on damage that had occurred during bombings.

"One day, a large bomb fell in the next road, and although windows were broken and things like that, everything seemed fine.

"My father said 'I'll just pop up the road and have a look', to make sure my friend's house was okay as they had moved away.

"He had their key, so he mounted the steps at the front of the house and opened the door, only to see that everything at the back of the house had gone," Mrs Grist said.

"And there was I. There was he, [both] looking at the bareness that follows a bomb blast."

'School's been bombed'

Mrs Grist said one of her clearest memories of war before leaving London is when she was on her way to junior school one morning "and a strange thing happened as we came to the top of the hill that led to the school".

"Pupils were running away from the school saying 'school's shut, the school's been bombed'.

"We were cheering, so thankful, everything was lovely for us [as there was] no school.

"But the other side was when you said goodbye to your friends at the end of the school day and by the next morning the number in our class had dropped completely. That was after a very large bomb had fallen."

Family handout Mary, on the right, during her wedding to Philip, who is on the left. The pair married in India and Mary is wearing a sari and a flower garland in her hair. Family handout
Mrs Grist said there were days when she realised "we had come so close to death"

Mrs Grist said there were times when her and family members would slip out to get something and it was only afterwards that they realised "we had come so close to death".

"It was a time that really captured thoughts and feelings and you can't go through an experience like that without it affecting you in some particular way," she said.

"But these memories are all we have now and we do reminisce from time to time but these days family and friends we experienced it with are not so [geographically] close to one another," she added.

Jen Houston Mary sat in a comfy chair, smiling and wearing glasses. She has a cream wooly jumper on and a white blouse. Jen Houston
Mrs Grist said it is important to talk about the war and VE Day to keep the memories alive

She said they had always tried to find the laughter in little things they remember from that time and the characters they met.

"It is definitely important [for everyone] to keep the memories alive," added Mrs Grist.

The four-day celebration of the 80th anniversary of VE Day will include a flypast, concert and a Westminster Abbey service.

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