Fires, dancing, flirting and quiet

● In cities and towns across Scotland, VE day was celebrated in style as joy mixed with relief at the end of six years of struggle

From a “quiet joy” to partying in the streets and the burning of an effigy of Hitler, the celebrations in Scotland to mark the end of the war in Europe 75 years ago came in many guises.

The build-up to the announcement of the war’s end on Tuesday 8 May 1945 wastaintedwith“needlesssuspense and confusion” according to newspaper reports in Scotland, given that the surrender of the Germans had already been announced on German radio the day before.

As the nation waited for official confirmation that the war was over, cautious celebrations were held in Edinburgh, with fires lit in the Cowgate and large numbers gathering in Princes Street. The announcement was coming, but it was not there yet.

With Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s address around 3pm came the longawaited release from six years of hardship, loss and deep suffering.

In a rainy capital, servicemen and women, factory workers and shop workers converged on the city centre with the American Red Cross Service Club in Princes St becoming a focal point.

14-year-old witness to Glasgow festivities

“If the Scots celebrate with difficulty, they – or the younger portion of them – in Princes Street last night made a praiseworthy effort to overcome this disability. The atmosphere of humour prevailed everywhere,” a report in The Scotsman said.

Extra police were brought in to mind the growing crowd of thousands outside the club where chewing gum and sweets were thrown down from the balcony, while hats were tossed up in jubilation.

From the same balcony, a marine led singing of songs such as Roll Out the Barrel and The Yanks are Coming and, in true American style, torn paper fluttered down from the sky.

At nearby Register House, several soldiers and sailors climbed up on to the Duke of Wellington statue with one servicemen “perilously balanced” on the horse’s mane.

Bunting and flags of many nations emblazoned the streets and a big party gathered near the Ross Fountain in Princes Gardens where a piper jollied the crowds playing eigthsome reels. Everybody joined in – including mothers with babies in their arms.

Meanwhile, children in High Street and Canongate lit bonfires, including one at the gates of Holyrood Palace.

There was talk about pubs being open late into the night but most were closed by 8pm given they had been drunk dry.

In Glasgow, it was recalled that the “entire city went a little mad”.

One resident, Tommy Mac, who was just 14 on VE day, earlier recalled: “I didn’t see too many drunks, now that I think of it. There was no need. The spirits were lifted high enough as it was. It was quite wonderful to see all the men and women in uniform hugging, kissing and generally flirting with the civilian population.

“I was 14 at the time and wanted to join these celebrations too, but not by myself. I looked around and took up with the nearest female at hand. She was an older girl, perhaps 16 or so. Still, she was to be my companion for the rest of the day. We made our way hand in hand from where we lived in the Cowcaddens part of the city in order to find the main celebration in George Square. Every street we went through was holding some party or another.”

In Dunblane, the cathedral was floodlit for the first time in its 700-year-old history. At night in Stirling, a dance was held with streamers wrapped around the guests who “romped merrily till the early hours”.

At 10.30pm, a big crowd gathered in the old cricket ground on New Road where a huge bonfire, with an effigy of Hitler on top, was lit.

In Inverness, church bells rang out for 20 minutes and in Aberdeen, residents embraced VE Day “in a spirit of thanksgiving and quiet joy” that rippled through the city and its surrounds. Along the coast, fishing vessels sounded their whistles.

Aberdeen’s Lord Provost Mitchell said that day: “We are happy at the thought that cruelty, destruction, suffering and slaughter in Europe have come to an end”. He added that rejoicing would be impossible in countless homes because “a father, a son or a brother has been given to pay the ultimate sacrifice.”

But for many, on that day there was just everything to live for.

“It was quite wonderful toseeallthemenand women in uniform hugging, kissing and generally flirting with the civilian population”

TOMMY MAC

How the Scottish capital marked ‘the greatest outburst of joy in the history of mankind’

As Winston Churchill put it, it was “the greatest outburst of joy in the history of mankind”.

But for many, the days of celebration that marked the end of the war in Europe were bittersweet.

Although Edinburgh suffered mildly in comparison to sustained raids elsewhere – hit by only 47 high explosives compared to the 441 that ravaged Clydebank – the human toll was great.

Countless mothers and fathers across the city had received the dreaded telegram, informing them their beloved laddie hadn’t made it. More than 30,000 city schoolchildren had been torn from their parents and evacuated to often far-flung