By Nick Pollard
The 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, the end of the Second World War in the European Theatre, was marked in a very different way to the original celebrations on 8th May 1945.
This street party in Cavendish Road, Sunbury, shows how communal tables were set up in the middle of the road, with carefully hoarded rationed food piled upon them, and neighbours clustered together for the camera, to celebrate the huge relief of peace being declared.
In 2020, with the Covid-19 lockdown upon us, people still turned out to celebrate the anniversary, but with ‘social distancing’ (how we long not to hear that phrase again) in force, were limited to their own front gardens. Thankfully this did not limit their enthusiasm, and determination to still enjoy the day, helped of course by perfect weather. Some have very kindly shared their photos of their celebration with the History Society, a few of which appear here: