VE Day memories of a wet parade through the streets of Slinfold
These farmer’s boys enjoyed a bird’s eye view of the wartime aircraft from their home on a hill and they were at the heart of the celebrations in the village when the German surrender came in 1945
Celebrating VE Day 75 with neighbours in Twickenham, Patrick Kidner recalled vivid memories of Slinfold in 1945 and how his family marked the German surrender.
His father Jack was a farmer, at Furze Copse Farm, and Patrick was a small boy, not yet four. He and his brothers have pieced together their memories of the Second World War and VE Day.
Patrick said: “To mark the occasion, Slinfold came to life in an unforgettable riot of noise and colour. There was bunting everywhere, a huge table set for a feast in front of the village pub, brass band and marching troops.
“Highlight of the procession was a pony and carriage in which three small boys rode proudly beside each other, each in the uniform of one of the armed services. One of those boys was my elder brother Richard, then nearly six, and happily we’ve been able to compare notes in recalling these events, helped by younger brother John.
“Why Richard was selected to represent the navy is debatable but there he was in the dress of a naval rating carefully designed to fit his diminutive figure. Not even a cloudburst in the middle of the parade could douse the spirits of the assembled throng, or of the excited children in the roofless carriage.
“I was insanely jealous to see Richard there, hogging the limelight while I, a mere spectator, watched with the rest of my family. At least there was no room to squabble on the day and we had yet to refine our combat skills
“Plans for the parade had been made weeks, if not months, before, when a neighbour of ours, with the procession in mind, had invited my mother to design the uniform for her eldest son.
“As a busy farmer’s wife with three young children, my mother set to work in the lengthening evenings of 1945, aided by the neighbour himself. While my brothers and I dozed upstairs, we could hear them talking softly below as the uniform took shape and the war drew slowly to an end. As a retired naval captain, he lived alone in a grand mansion on the other side of our farm.”
With her growing family, Patrick’s mother Peg had faced many challenges in those difficult years – the unexpected arrival of evacuees from London in the early part of the war, the loss in 1943 of her younger brother, a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm, and shortly afterwards, the death of her much-loved mother.
Patrick said: “No wonder she valued a quiet chat with a sympathetic neighbour as she cut and stitched the uniform and waited for the war to end.”
Patrick’s father was exempt from conscription, being a farmer, but he was keen to do his bit for the war effort, so, he signed up as a volunteer in the Royal Observer Corps. His job was to spot approaching enemy aircraft and report their positions for the RAF.
Patrick said: “He enjoyed the job and would take his turn, at the end of a long day on the farm, to spend most of the night at the nearest Observation Post in Billingshurst. By the end of the war, he claimed he could identify every aircraft by the sound of its engines alone.
“Some of the other volunteers were fellow farmers so the duties were convivial, especially when the enemy declined to appear, as they often did.
“Not surprisingly, the famous comedy series Dad’s Army became a favourite of my father in his later life.”
The VE Day parade left everyone soaked to the skin and when it was over, Patrick’s father drove at speed to get them home quickly. Disaster struck as they hit a huge puddle and the engine stalled.
Patrick said: “Cue some colourful expletives from the exasperated driver as he repaired the electrical connections and cranked the engine back to life.
“Safely home, we all dried out and two of us were put to bed while my father and Richard went back for the final part of the day’s proceedings.
“A huge bonfire had been built beside the railway line, topped with an effigy of Hitler. As the two of them arrived on the scene, they were greeted by the sight of flaming torches processing to the site and igniting the blaze as darkness fell.”
One night, around this time, Patrick was woken suddenly by his mother.
Patrick said: “I crept out of bed and found my parents and older brother at the landing window facing north towards Leith Hill. The horizon was ablaze with rockets and searchlights, sweeping right and left.
“Important as they had been as a protective ring around London, now they could trace a V for Victory sign in the sky and signal the start of celebrations for a weary nation.
“It was an astonishing display which left an indelible impression on this excited child.”
There was bunting everywhere, a huge table set for a feast in front of the village pub, brass band and marching troops PATRICK KIDNER Furze Copse Farm