The mixed emotions of joy and loss on VE Day

​The formal announcement of Germany’s surrender had been expected for days as the last remnants of resistance petered out following the death by suicide of Adolf Hitler. In the month before that, the advance of Allied forces towards Berlin, from both east and west, made the outcome inevitable.

Right to the end, however, the risk of death hung over those still in the front line. Many Prisoners of War had been liberated and were returning to their homes but there was no certainty about the fate of others while for some, the news which arrived as VE Day approached was bleak.

In the same issues of the Gazette which reported muted celebrations, there was also confirmation that two brothers from Ballantrushal, Donald John and Angus Macdonald, had been “lost on active service”. Sergeant Navigator Donald Morrison of Reef in Uig had been killed “in operations over Germany”. And so on.

For some families, there was also the acute knowledge that “VE Day” and “the end of the war” were not synonymous. Fighting in the Far East theatres of war continued unabated and a considerable number of islanders were among those still suffering terrible cruelties at the hands of their Japanese captors.

The district notes in the Gazette reflected this ambiguity. From Cross, for example, the message was that “VE Day was observed in a quiet manner. A sigh of relief was uttered by all those who had been under continuous anxiety but at the same time heartfelt sympathy is felt for those who were sorely hurt by the loss of dear ones … We are slow to realise the fullness of the wonder of the day”.

In Stornoway, however, celebrations were not to be denied. The Gazette reported: “Lewis received the great news of the end of the war in Europe with mingled joy and thanksgiving. An exuberant crowd danced outside the Town Hall on VE Night and well into the early hours of the morning.

“Many of the older folk found a fuller expression of their emotions in the Church services held in all the local churches on VE Day or the day following. The celebrations began on Monday night. The Town Council had prepared a huge bonfire at Cnoc nan Uain but under the coastal ban it could not be lit, at least officially.

“But the young folk took matters into their own hands and when Councillors and officials were turning in for the night, they were surprised to see the bonfire merrily lighting up the midnight sky. By that time, fully a dozen bonfires were burning within sight of Stornoway, on Arnish, on Newton Beach, and out in Sandwick and Laxdale.

“After midnight the rescue boats and others at the quay ushered in VE Day with a salute of fireworks that brought many of the people round about tumbling out of bed. On Tuesday morning the town was thronged with shoppers hurrying to lay in stores between the two holidays.

“A downpour of rain and the Prime Minister’s speech kept many people indoors for the afternoon but there were large numbers of airmen in town to celebrate and afternoon buses brought ‘market day’ crowds in from the country districts. All evening the streets were thronged. ..

“When the ‘Lochness’ steamed in with all her flags flying and a sailor and man in civvies playing the pipes on the upper deck, there was a large crowd on the pier … At the Town Hall, the Electric Company had fixed a huge V sign which flashed on and off, and red, white and blue lights flashed out the dot dot dot dash of victory”.

The editorial column of the Gazette reflected: “If the cost is so great, how great must be the prize? … Victory, even when it is complete, is not an end but the beginning of an infinitely harder task … After the last war, we fell into the error of regarding peace as a state of tranquility in which men took their ease. We are not likely to make the same mistake again”.

Unfortunately, Gazette coverage of how VE Day was marked in the other islands was non-existent. At that time and for many years later, Uist and Barra looked more to Oban and Inverness than to the islands of the north. This was true in terms of newspaper circulations as well as local government and education.

In every island and village, the same mixed emotions must have prevailed. For example, Barra, with its Merchant Navy tradition, lost 55 men from its small population. Within weeks, a General Election campaign would begin. Having won the war, the question was - who would be entrusted to win the peace?