Centenarian remembers singing on VE Day in Trafalgar Square
'We sang and laughed on VE Day in Trafalgar Square'
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Sophie Law
BBC Radio Oxford
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Dorothy Howard remembers celebrating VE Day in Trafalgar Square, exactly 80 years ago
A centenarian has said she will "never forget" celebrating VE Day in London's Trafalgar Square alongside hundreds of thousands of fellow jubilant Britons, 80 years ago.
Dorothy Howard, from Witney, Oxfordshire, spent two years serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) - the women's branch of the British Army during World War Two.
Ms Howard, who turned 100 in February, is now the last surviving member of 26 women photographed from her unit.
She spoke to the BBC as the UK marks eight decades since the surrender of Nazi Germany, and the end of war in Europe.
Ms Howard still had her maiden name, Mace, when she signed up for the ATS in 1941.
"I was interested, nosy I suppose really - I wanted to know what it was all about," she explained.
"I wanted to go in the Navy but I didn't swim so they said I had the attributes for office work."
Ms Howard is the last living member from this photograph of her ATS unit
The work was "serious all the way" and "quite frightening really", she remembered.
Explaining her job role, she said: "[They were all wanting] ammunition so you had to type these forms out, hundreds of them.
"Silly little bits of ammunition really but very important, I don't think we realised how important it was for the poor people who used it.
"I felt I'd done a little bit."
Ms Howard spent two years in the service, mostly working at an Army ordnance depot in Middlesex, where she said she earned 26 shillings a week.
In 1943, she left to marry her boyfriend - who was serving in the RAF.
PA Media
Thousands gathered in Trafalgar Square to celebrate VE Day, including Dorothy Howard
When VE Day arrived, Ms Howard said she and a friend made it to Trafalgar Square to celebrate and "just enjoyed it".
Also there that day was the late Queen Elizabeth II, then Princess Elizabeth, who later described it as "one of the most memorable nights" of her life.
"[We] sang, shouted, screamed," Ms Howard said.
"I'll never forget it – the scenes of joy on everyone's faces, laughing, we weren't laughing at anything really – it was just wonderful. Absolutely marvellous."
Following the war, Ms Howard went on to have two children and now has a large family - including great-grandchildren.
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