15-05-2025
Care home residents share VE Day memories
Care home residents have shared their memories of the end of World War Two in Europe as they marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
Residents of Colten Care's 21 homes in the south, including service veterans and those who were children at the time, recalled the momentous day.
The news that the war had ended came in a BBC radio newsflash on the evening of May 7, 1945, followed by an official announcement from Prime Minister Winston Churchill at 3pm the next afternoon, declaring May 8 as VE Day and a national holiday.
Pam Brown, a resident at Colten Care's Kingfishers care home in New Milton, Hampshire, celebrates the VE Day anniversary with Companionship Team member Elaine Evans (Image: Colten Care) At Kingfishers in New Milton, Hampshire, 99-year-old Alan Havelock recounted his memories of VE Day.
He 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.'
Kingfishers residents Pat Dartnell, 102, left, and Kay Karnhem, 100, who attended a VE Day anniversary community celebration in New Milton, Hampshire (Image: Colten Care) To mark the VE Day 80th anniversary, all 21 Colten Care homes in Hampshire, Dorset, West Sussex, and Wiltshire hosted community events.
They included afternoon teas and 'street parties' with homes and gardens decked out with Union flags, bunting, and 1940s memorabilia.
Residents from Kingfishers also 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.
Pat Dartnell, who is 102, said of the Lions Club event: "It was a heartwarming afternoon that honoured the past while celebrating the resilience and joy of the present."
In Lymington, three residents of 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.
