“WELSHPOOL had a wonderful weekend of celebrations,” said Dorothy Williams, Victory Queen; “A victory ball on the Friday night, fancy dress and street party for the children on the Saturday afternoon and dancing in the streets until all hours.”
The end of World War Two signalled celebrations across the whole country, and allowed people to take stock of what they had experienced over the previous six years.
Dorothy said: “I was a 12-year-old girl when the war started. I remember hearing the announcement that we had gone to war with Germany.
"We had only moved up to senior school that April and some of our time was taken up with pasting lace onto the windows to prevent flying glass.
"We were also Digging for Victory by replanting flower beds with vegetables and taking to the fields around the school for gas mask practise.
“For 11 to 14 year olds this was great fun - much better than lessons, but we soon found out how wrong we were.
“There was great excitement when the evacuees started to arrive, mostly children from the Liverpool and Birkenhead area.
“They were very sad at first but soon settled in.
“Many a happy hour was spent singing ‘Kiss Me Goodnight Sgt. major’ and the many other popular songs of the day meant to boost our morale.
“There was a good canteen most evenings for servicemen and women run by Mrs Stephenson at the Methodist Schoolroom.
"Later in the war a canteen was held for American servicemen in what was later the home of Mr and Mrs Windsor in Brook Street and the chapel building next door.
“Various activities took place at the Boys’ and Girls’ clubs in the Grammar school building in Berriew Road.
“We used to meet at Lanes Bakehouse in Boot Street drying hops for some unknown project and we picked hops in season, bound old books for the troops and to help raise funds.
“The girls at the club formed a troop of service cadets and very smart we were too!
“Then the Yanks arrived and it was all fun. Land girls also arrived in great numbers from all parts of the country. They were a happy, cheerful set of girls despite such hardships as digging stone out of Dolfor Hills when it was too cold for the German POW’s to do anything. Many married local lads and remained in the area.
“The old quarry in Brook Street was put to good use.
"During the early part of the war it was used to store ammunition and guarded day and night by airmen, some very young.
“My family lived across the road. One young airman was very scared on duty one night when he could hear strange noises but he had a good laugh when my mother explained it was only the deer mating in the park.
“Those airmen were very good to us and brought any food they had left. Even half a tin of corned beef or a few spoonfuls of tea or sugar was a Godsend.
“Italian POW’s arrived at Garth later, dressed in brown overalls with yellow circles on the back. In the winter they worked in the quarry maintaining what was left of farming machinery.
“When the sirens sounded at night we would settle under the table or under the stairs listening to the German bombers going over on their way to bomb Merseyside docks but I think only two bombs fell near Welshpool.
“D-Day was a day spent watching wave after wave of our bombers, white stripes on their wings, flying over on their way to France. Many never returned.
“VE day brought great excitement but it was not the end of the war and we couldn’t celebrate until news of Japan came through late one night.
“It was coats on over pyjamas and hundreds of people marching around the town, arms linked, cheering and singing every popular song we knew.
“Many wonderful happy street parties were held to welcome the lads as they returned home, heroes all, with many tales to tell but nobody could, or would, ever forget the sadness of the families who couldn’t greet their loved ones who had given their lives for us.
“All was not well yet. We were still hungry, there was still rationing and nothing in the shops but the all clear had sounded and the lights were lit up again after so many years of unimaginable darkness.”