麻豆社

Michael Bowyer has written in his diary every day since January 1941 and was just 16 on VE Day.

He had watched over three hundred Lancaster鈥檚 the day before routed over Cambridge taking flour to Holland. He recalls how at 3 o鈥檆lock everyone was by their radio waiting for Churchill to speak and then walked to town to Midsomer Common.

A bonfire was being built and there was much rejoicing but also deep sorrow for relatives of the Cambridgeshire regiment who were imprisoned in PoW camps in Japan.

Revellers danced a great conga round the city past Emanuel College and round by Post Office Terrace, and at the same time there was a torch light procession through Cambridge.

As the torchlight procession reached Midsomer Common the huge bonfire was lit with effigies of Hitler being set alight. The bonfire was burning brightly and had some wooden parts from a bomber plane that had taken part in D-Day.

As Michael walked down Occupation Road in Cambridge he heard a piano, which had been bought out onto the street and people rejoiced into the night.

Michael was a keen plane spotter and all that he saw in the skies during the war had inspired him to join the air force. He notes that during the Second World War more than four million flights had been routed across East Anglia.

When the war was over he felt that his plane spotting days at Duxford were over but went on to join the Royal Air Force for three years. He temporarily lost his sight due to measles for three months and was no longer able to fly but has written over fifty books on planes.

Image: The cover of Michael鈥檚 book, The Stirling Story

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