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From: SHIRLEY HOLMES <>
Subject: Veteran'S Day l945
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 11:26:56 -0800 (PST)


I was in London for Veteran's Day l945. On my way to Paris to be discharged from the WAC. My fiance, a British member of the Merchant Navy, had just returned from Argentina and we were happy to have both survived the war, to be in London for few days, to be planning our future.

So we joined the crowd, walking from Charles Street to the Cenotaph to see the King!
It was a tremendous crowd. There were uniforms from everywhere - Norway, Poland, The United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, There were soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines. All glad to be celebrating Victory. All glad to have survived. And all terribly aware of the enormous cost. So many of us had made it. So many hadn't. Why were we so fortunate?

The King spoke, haltingly, of the great victory, and of the losses. And we observed a
a period of silence.

Then we joined the crowd, walking quietly toward the Palace, And waited outside until
the Royals came out on the balcony - the King, the Queen, The Princesses, the
Dowager Queen Mary. She had been through it all before.
Shirley

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