Royal British Legion members, veterans and townsfolk gather in New Milton, Lymington, Christchurch, Totton and Burley for VE Day 80 services.
THOUSANDS across the area paused to pay their respects to Second World War heroes to mark VE Day 80.
New Milton residents gathered at the town’s war memorial for a remembrance service featuring bagpipe players and readings from Arnewood School pupils.
At Brockenhurst College, students embraced the spirit of the 1940s, listening to era appropriate music and wearing 1940s clothing. There were garden games and a parade by the college’s uniformed protective services students.
Veterans, townsfolk and civic leaders gathered for a solemn wreath-laying service at the Bailey Bridge Memorial in Barrack Road, Christchurch on 8th May.
Led by Christchurch Royal British Legion vice chair David Morgan, the ceremony included the exhortation and sounding of the Last Post, followed by a minute’s silence and the reveille.
Colten Care home residents shared their memories of the moment they heard the Second World War was over. Alan Havelock (99) who lives at Kingfishers in New Milton said: “I was at home in St Neots near Cambridge recovering from measles. There was a fete on the square and all the events were free. At the back stood a bumper car track. I danced with my mother and we both drank wine. It was simple, beautiful and unforgettable.”
Residents from Kingfishers attended a VE Day-themed theatre production at nearby St Mark’s Church in Highcliffe and an anniversary celebration at the New Milton Recreation Ground organised by the Lions Club and featuring both the Military Wives Choir and the Wessex Military Band.
In Lymington, three residents of Colten Care’s Linden House - Nigel Bendell, Frank Johnson, and John Porter - were invited to join the standard bearers for the official VE Day memorial service at the town’s St Thomas’s Church.
The town’s Royal British Legion marked the day with a beacon lighting at its town HQ before a remembrance service at the church and a parade back down the High Street. The town’s Specsavers joined in by hosting a tea and cake event that raised £171 for the local Royal British Legion branch.
A legion spokesperson said: ‘We’re delighted that Specsavers Lymington invited us into their store to celebrate this historical day and for helping raise this amazing amount of cash in just one day.”
There was a remembrance celebration party at St Mary’s Church hall in Everton, attended by local care home residents as well as New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne, Lymington Mayor Cllr Jack Davies, and Cllr Fran Carpenter, who cut a cake. Organiser Becky Bishop said the event raised £101 for the Royal British Legion.
There were four days of commemorative events in Totton, including a service at the area’s war memorial led by the town council and Royal British Legion on 8th May.
On 9th May, ukulele players performed wartime classics ahead of a “lights of peace” parade. Veteran David Clark (102), who received the Burma Star for his contribution to the Second World War, was also guest of honour at a well-attended party organised by Totton and Eling Community Centre, which included performances from Romsey Choir.
In Burley, the village’s memorial service included a visit from Verwood town crier David Craner in a 1943 WC-52 Dodge weapons carrier to read the VE Day proclamation, followed by live music at a victory tea party.
• For more pictures and to buy images from the Lymington, New Milton and Totten services, visit photos.iliffemedia.co.uk/p353486825
