ON BOARD SHIP
There were a lot of shells and divebombers and I wasn’t allowed to carry a gun as I was from the Merchant Navy.
But I was too busy getting on with the job to be scared. I just remember tremendous noise, as well as hundreds of planes, and the smell of cordite.
We sailed back to Folkestone on May 7 but got back into the harbour late so stayed aboard the ship.
Next morning as I went on deck, there was a buzz of excitement. A group of men on the quay were talking and looking at a paper.
I shouted “What’s happening?” They said the war was over in Europe and the Germans had surrendered.
Looking around you could see people shouting and talking to one another and the excitement and buzz was unbelievable.
After five years of tension, there was such relief for all. The next two days were spent celebrating on land.
We felt a great lift. But our war was far from over.
■ Bill, a Royal British Legion member, was involved in the Japanese campaigns and was finally demobbed in November 1947.
Bill aided colleague