VE parade in Princes Street, Edinburgh

On VE Day in 1945 I was at College in Edinburgh.  In the evening, I went with my friends on to Princes Street, which was crowded with people wandering back and forth and not quite knowing what to do.  We all had a vast feeling of relief that the war was over in Europe, but since my best friends’ 21 year old brother, a fighter pilot, had been killed two years earlier, we were not riotously happy.

Two days later, I think, the King and Queen with Princess Elizabeth and Sir Winston Churchill came to Edinburgh for a great parade along Princes Street.  We managed to stand opposite the National Gallery where they took the salute.  The kilted Military Bagpipe bands marching along the wide road, with the Castle looming above, was memorable.

The crowds were immense and we managed to lose each other, but it was a very exciting day.

Margaret Seabrook

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