Si Liberman: Remembering V-E Day
[Si Liberman is a retired editor of the Asbury Park (N.J.) Sunday Press.]
The explosion of joy had not yet erupted. But there, in the heart of London that night, darkness was strangely absent on one city street. A stream of light illuminated almost an entire city block.
Some happy soul had raised a store window's blackout shade. And for the first time in nearly six years, it was done without fear of inviting an air raid warden's citation or German bombs.
That marvelous lighted scene, foretelling the end of Europe's deadliest period, has stayed with me all these years. It was May 7, 1945.
I was a 20-year-old B-24 bomber radio gunner then and on a three-day pass from the U.S. Army Air Force's base outside of Norwich, a five-hour train ride away. On a London Underground train to Piccadilly Circus, I had spotted a newspaper headline that screamed in thick black letters: "Unconditional Surrender Imminent." The lighted street seemed to confirm the headline.
By 3 p.m. the next day, it was official — V-E Day.
Standing on the War Ministry balcony above Whitehall at that hour, a beaming Prime Minister Winston Churchill flashed his usual "V" sign. This time, though, his "V" for victory was no symbolic promise.
The hostilities with Nazi Germany were over. "This is your victory," he told a huge crowd that had gathered....
Read entire article at LA Times
The explosion of joy had not yet erupted. But there, in the heart of London that night, darkness was strangely absent on one city street. A stream of light illuminated almost an entire city block.
Some happy soul had raised a store window's blackout shade. And for the first time in nearly six years, it was done without fear of inviting an air raid warden's citation or German bombs.
That marvelous lighted scene, foretelling the end of Europe's deadliest period, has stayed with me all these years. It was May 7, 1945.
I was a 20-year-old B-24 bomber radio gunner then and on a three-day pass from the U.S. Army Air Force's base outside of Norwich, a five-hour train ride away. On a London Underground train to Piccadilly Circus, I had spotted a newspaper headline that screamed in thick black letters: "Unconditional Surrender Imminent." The lighted street seemed to confirm the headline.
By 3 p.m. the next day, it was official — V-E Day.
Standing on the War Ministry balcony above Whitehall at that hour, a beaming Prime Minister Winston Churchill flashed his usual "V" sign. This time, though, his "V" for victory was no symbolic promise.
The hostilities with Nazi Germany were over. "This is your victory," he told a huge crowd that had gathered....