CUMBRIA is commemorating the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

And while events have had to be scaled back due to the coronavirus lockdown, there will still be plenty to see and do.

The momentous day was celebrated with joy in 1945 too but as Jules Wooding reveals, not everyone was freed from an anxious wait for news from the front line 75 years ago.

Jules is manager of Cumbria’s Museum of Military Life which is based at Carlisle Castle.

The collection there tells the story of the county’s infantry regiment, past and present, in its various guises.

As such, Jules is acquainted with what was happening 75 years ago and how people reacted to it.

And while VE Day was celebrated as a great day in our history, many men from Cumberland and Westmorland were fighting with the Border Regiment in Burma on that day against the Japanese. VJ Day did not arrive until August 15.

For many families in the county, victory over the Nazi regime was overshadowed by fears for family and friends still in the firing line.

“It wasn’t the end of the war and I think that is a really important thing," said Jules.

"We have more enquiries about VJ Day rather than VE Day at the museum.

“For a lot of people with family serving in the Border Regiment, it would be months before the war was over as their relatives were serving abroad.

“George McDonald Fraser (who served in and wrote about the regiment) said it was just another day for them. It didn’t really cross their minds because they were in the jungle.

“It was too far removed from their situation, they were still fighting the Japanese.

“But there were celebrations. People had actually started celebrating the night before because they knew it was coming. It was a national holiday, and Churchill gave a speech at 3pm.The Border Regiment had served in Europe too because there was more than one battalion. The First Battalion had been at Arnhem and were going to be sent to Norway, but there was a big aeroplane accident and 14 of the regiment were killed – that happened around VE Day.”

Jules said that the Government was keen to make sure everyone celebrated VE Day with street parties in 1945, so they made sure that people could make bunting and make food for events despite the rationing.

“People were encouraged to have street parties but rationing made it quite difficult. They were making things like bread pudding.”

Jules said that a number of events took place in 1945 in the days following VE Day, including a large service of thanksgiving in Bitts Park, Carlisle.

“It was different to World War One, because in the second world war they were fighting against an ideology, against a man who was systematically and industrially killing people.”