Oxfordshire's VE & VJ Day Stories

Share your stories with the museum

'VE Night' by Ruskin Spear, from John Noott's exhibition The Art of WW2

2025 will mark the 80th anniversaries of Victory in Europe (VE Day) & Victory in Japan (VJ Day).

After nearly six years of war, Germany officially surrendered on 7 May 1945 and the conflict in Europe was finally over.

The unconditional surrender came after Adolf Hitler took his own life on 30 April as the Allies surrounded Berlin, and was authorised by his successor Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz.

News that the war in Europe had ended did not come as a surprise, and had been anticipated back in Britain for some time as the Allies advanced on Germany.

While for many the war was over, many thousands of Armed Forces personnel were still involved in bitter fighting in the Far East.

Victory over Japan would come a few months later and at a heavy cost, with VJ Day marks the day Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945, finally ending the Second World War.

These anniversaries will be marked by a special exhibition at the museum, telling the stories both at home and abroad of how Oxfordshire and its people experienced the end of the conflict. We would like to hear your stories of this time and those from your family.

Italian and German POWs were a common sight working on farms across Oxfordshire. These men were photographed while working on a farm in Bampton (1946)

Did you return home having been an evacuee?

Were you an Oxfordshire child enjoying a Victory party? 

Did your father decide to stay and build a life in England when Oxfordshire's POW camps were closed?

Where were your serving relatives when war ended? What did they do next?

If you have a story to share and one that might feature in the museum, please submit it here using the form. Help us build Oxfordshire's unique story of these two significant anniversaries.