There was obviously a great deal of excitement at Downe House to celebrate VE day.  The girls listened to the Prime Minister on the wireless, then in Chapel they listened to the Archbishop of Canterbury and then they listed to the King at 9pm ! 

A beacon was lit out on St Peter’s Hill at 9.30 that night, and the whole school was there, singing and cheering, “we made as much noise as we possible could” and Susan wrote that the flames “reached to a height of more than 25 feet”!  They could see other beacons lighting up, some over 30 miles away.  After all the carousing, they were finally “shooed to bed by Miss Willis” and it was after eleven that they were in bed. 

After describing all this VE day excitement, Susan then got down to the serious business of discussing the ordering of the summer tunics.  She was worried that they take about 5 or 6 months to come after ordering so very politely asked her mother if she could possibly write a “tactful letter to ‘Sheba’* and say that I have got to have one for Seniors Week End …” 

The other news in this letter was that Susan had made it into Choral, “very surprising and a great honour” and that the standard of tennis in her form is “hopeless” and that she would update her mother later of who has been chosen to captain tennis and rounders.   

She signs off after saying that the weather is lovely and that they just need short sleeved djibbah blouses and no cardigans!  

*Sheba of Sloane Street made the famous Djibbahs as well as the summer uniform which were cotton tunics of a standard design in any colour of choice. 

From Bridget’s diary … VE day 

Bridget also describes them all listening to the wireless, she said “the King stammered rather badly but it was a good speech.” 

She goes on to describe the bonfire “with vast logs up the sides and quite a lot of paraffin the midle.  Miss Willis lit it at about 9.45.  It blazed up … at one point it looked as it if was all going to topple over in a flaming mass – lots of sparks and red hot bits flew off it and we all had to keep at a distance.” 

“We bellowed well know songs at the top of our voiced and got quite hoarse.  We rushed round and round the fire, quite mad.” 

As they made their way back up to school they “sang Rule Britannia as Avril sat in a cart dressed up as Britannia in laurel leaves etc.  The other seniors were in white around her.  We went out of one gate and in again at the front one.  Then we went to bed.”  She describes them all looking out of the window of the dormitory and seeing seven beacons in the distance.