Bishopstoke VE day celebrations and seaside holidays

Bishopstoke casts off the war in this celebratory record of VE Day - with street parties for the children and dancing for the grown-ups all to the tune of fiddles and an accordion.

This home-movie features family scenes at home in Bishopstoke and on post-war holidays to the Isle of Wight and other resorts. Then we flash-back to VE Day where tables are laid out for street-parties. While the children eat, musicians play and soon the grown-ups start dancing in the street. A fancy-dress procession follows and then cadets march through the streets with their bugles at the ready. Finally, a car is pushed along by members of the local Youth Club.

Look closely at the boy at the head of the fancy-dress procession and you'll see a small placard saying 'Victory for China Soon'. This reminds us that despite the VE Day celebrations, the war would continue in the Far East until August 1945.