'It wasn't the end of the war but it felt like it' - Stourbridge nonagenarians tell us about their VE day memories
Residents of a Stourbridge care home have spoken of their wartime memories as they get ready to mark the 80th anniversary of VE day.
Parkfield Grange, Hagley Road in Stourbridge, are marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day with a community day for residents with music, refreshments and singing along with a minute's silence to mark the anniversary, which occurs on May 8.
Many of the residents lived through the war as youngsters and although memories have faded a little bit, they had no problem remembering the elation and party atmosphere of VE Day, which marked Victory in Europe and the end, for many, of the second world war.
Doris Nelson, now 95, was 15 when VE Day happened. She is a native of Wolverhampton and mixed with her recollection of the day is her memories of what a tough time everyone had during World War Two leading up to it.
She said: "I remember it feeling like the end of the war, even though it wasn't and it went on for some time after that but there was such elation, dancing in the streets, partying it felt like a weight had been lifted from our shoulders.
"No more air raid sirens, school being disrupted, no fear of bombing or the soldiers who were fighting in the war being injured or killed, it had been such a long time, as much as you got used to it you didn't want to.
"The rationing was tough as well I remember forgetting what a banana and orange was, it sounds silly but they weren't freely available, nothing was in the way it might have been before and it went on for years.
