This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, when Victory in Europe Day (8th May 1945) and Victory over Japan Day (15th August 1945) marked the formal cessation of hostilities. This talk by Michael Burns will It will be an opportunity to hear recollections of street parties, parades, bonfires & dances in County Down, including Banbridge, Crossgar, Newtownards & beyond. Yet, celebrations were also tempered by post-war anxieties as more details emerged from war-torn Europe on the horrors of the Holocaust and the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. 80 years on, we can reflect that victory was not just a celebration, but a reminder of what had been lost during the tragic years of global warfare.
Michael Burns is the Research Officer at the Northern Ireland War Memorial and looks after their extensive oral history collection of first-hand memories of Northern Ireland during the Second World War.
