'I've survived'
US 'Stars and Stripes' newspaper announces: 'Germany Quits', May 7 1945
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The fighting, killing and dying went on up to the very last minute, and even continued into the immediate period of supposed peace. A German U-Boat sank two merchant ships on 7 May off the Scottish coast, and some Germans continued to fight against the Red Army for several days after VE Day.
A common reaction to the news of peace among soldiers in Europe was 'I've survived'. Stuart Hills, a British officer with an armoured regiment, finished the war deep in Germany. On hearing the news he felt immediate exhilaration and marked the occasion with some 'liberated' champagne. But then 'reaction set in' as he thought of his friends who had been killed, and he no longer felt like celebrating.
A Scottish battalion let off some flares when the news came through. Later on rum was issued and one platoon held a sing-song. Otherwise, VE Day passed without much incident. For this unit, still in close proximity to German forces that refused to believe the war was over, it was business as usual.
The 8th Hussars (part of 7th Armoured Division), also known as the 'Desert Rats', celebrated VE Day in northern Germany with a church parade followed by rum punch drunk beside bonfires on which swastikas were ceremonially burned.
Elsewhere there were more riotous celebrations, with men going 'absent without leave' (AWOL) and even some alcohol-fuelled fatalities, but these tended to occur further back from the front line.
In general terms, the British army remained well disciplined. The fighting might have been over, but surrounded by a near-starving civilian population eking a living in the ruins of Germany's towns and cities, everyone could see that there was still much to do. Moreover, the thought of the Far East was in the back of many minds.
VE Day and the Commonwealth
In Australia, the war with Japan was quite literally nearer to home, and
Sydney Morning Herald
posed the question, 'Since when has it been customary to celebrate victory halfway through a contest?' Subsequent VE Days were often quiet affairs in Australian towns and cities.
In New Zealand, victory was celebrated on 9 May in an orderly fashion - the government having made detailed plans months in advance - and the population quietly obeyed instructions.
This was in stark contrast to VE Day in the Canadian city of Halifax, where bars were unwisely closed, leading to the widespread looting of alcohol by servicemen, inevitably followed by riotous behaviour and the destruction of property.
Of course, other Canadians celebrated more decorously. The author's father-in-law, undergoing flying training in Canada, spent VE Day in Moncton, New Brunswick, joining local civilians in driving their trucks around the town in celebration.
Many sailors of the Royal Navy discovered the news of VE Day through their ships' 'sparks' (radio operator) as they picked up BBC broadcasts. Many ships' captains celebrated the occasion by 'splicing the mainbrace' - a euphemism for issuing a rum ration.
For some, this was a pleasant interlude in what was otherwise a normal working day. A force of British and Canadian ships spent VE Day sailing to Jersey and Guernsey, occupied since 1940.
Although in his victory broadcast Churchill had announced that, 'our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today', it was unclear whether the defenders intended to fight or surrender.
In the event the liberation was achieved peacefully, with the Bailiff of Jersey leading the crowds in St Helier in a rendition of the National Anthem, which the Germans had banned for the duration of the war.