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Neville Albert Gott, from Embsay, was a young signalman in the army, and happened to be in Reims, in France, on 7th May 1945, when the Germans surrendered unconditionally, signing the surrender documents at the supreme headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Reims.

The ceasefire was to begin the next day, 8th May, and this date has since been commemorated as Victory in Europe (V.E.) Day. On this, the 80th anniversary of V.E. Day, we look back on its impact upon the people of Embsay-with-Eastby. [1] 

 Despite some reservations due to fighting continuing in the Far East, the end of hostilities in Europe was cause enough for widespread celebration amongst the civilian population across the Allied countries. 

At the end of May, 21-year-old Neville was on leave, at his parents’ home, “Maville”, on Brackenley Lane.[2] Since his father, Walter Gott, was sub-editor of the ‘Craven Herald’ newspaper, it is no surprise that Neville provided an interview on his experience in Reims: 

“[He] caught a glimpse of two of the German representatives. Signalman Gott told a Craven Herald & Pioneer reporter that the people of Rheims were extremely proud that the signing should take place there, and the VE celebrations were memorable. The jubilant French people danced in the street with Allied troops until well into the night. On the day following there was a big Allied Forces parade. ‘Altogether it was an experience I shall never forget’ Signalman Gott added.”[3] 

Neville (1923-2005) – who sometimes preferred to use his middle name, Albert – became a clerk for a water board, and married in the Wirral district, Cheshire, in 1957 to Lilian Moore. They had no children, but were active members of the local ramblers’ club, and Liverpool Naturalists’ Field Club. Neville died in Birkenhead, Cheshire, in 2005. 

While photos and descriptions of the exuberance of ecstatic crowds in London is an iconic historic moment in British history, there is no record in our local newspaper on how Embsay and Eastby celebrated V.E. Day, since the paper only had space to give details of celebrations in the larger villages, such as Gargrave and Addingham. 

However, Raleigh Hargreaves posted in the ‘lost and found’ column the following week, that on V.E. night he lost his riding mackintosh and gloves at Embsay village institute, so there may well have been some kind of spontaneous party there – no doubt with some Lindy-hop dancing. [4] Otherwise, the Craven Herald’s specific references to Embsay and Eastby focused on mundane parish news, such as parish council meetings about potholes, flooding in Brackenley Lane, repairs required to local footpaths, footbridges and children’s playground equipment. Fundraising events for the Red Cross, district nurses, and the “Welcome Home Fund” which continued as before. 

The newspaper described the initial reaction across Craven as “sober thanksgiving and gratitude for Victory”. Almost everyone had been listening to BBC radio broadcasts for three days, waiting for the much-anticipated official announcement of peace. Loud speakers were put up outside Skipton Town Hall to relay the expected announcement. The newspaper editorial (11th May) observed that on Tuesday afternoon, on the 8th of May, as rumours spread of an impending official announcement, “public rejoicing was subdued but genuine.” Mill buzzers sounded and church bells were rung. Patriotic flags appeared over windows, and by midday, several of the mills and the schools having closed, the town streets were getting crowded. “Throughout the remainder of the day the streets were the scene of considerable animation.” Finally, at 3 p.m. Churchill’s declaration that the war in Europe was over, came onto the radio and through the town hall speakers. The uncertainty, followed by sheer relief, appeared to have delayed spontaneous outbursts of excitement and enthusiasm, but that evening the High Street lights came back on for the first time since September 1939, and people came out to celebrate. There were bonfires and fireworks in various parts of the town. That night the loud speakers at the town hall now played music, and there was dancing on the High Street until well past midnight, the lights being turned off at 12.30. There was a repeat of the street ‘revelry’ the following night. Official celebrations followed over the next fortnight or so. Skipton Town Council and local organisations had been gearing up for weeks, planning victory parades and church services for V.E. day. Entertainment shows and concerts were held at the town hall, including one provided by Italian P.O.Ws. Local pubs were granted opening hours until 2 a.m. on the Saturday and Sunday following V.E. Day. 

However, the ‘Craven Herald’ did report that: “Compared with the reported excitement on the towns, most Craven villages observed VE-Day quietly.“ As the reality of peace set in after Churchill’s broadcast, villagers came out in the afternoon, waving Union Jacks, and wearing ‘patriotic hats’, to meet and greet each other, and discuss the news. The newspaper reported that most churches all over the Dales were full for the impromptu thanksgiving services, and over the next few days, celebrations became more lively, with communal bonfires and beacons, social gatherings, and dances, which continued into the Whitsuntide holiday at the end of May. No doubt many Embsay and Eastby people were involved as participants or spectators at the huge parade of a wide range of local organisations (such as guides, scouts, home guard, women’s land army, nurses, police, friendly societies, etc.) held in Skipton on the second weekend after V.E. Day. 

As Skipton and surrounding villages celebrated Victory in Europe day in May 1945, two Embsay mothers – Edith Waterfall and Ellen Hill – had particular cause to be joyful.[5] While others had to wait weeks, months, even years, for the demobilisation of their boys, recently liberated prisoners of war were allowed to go home on extended leave immediately. 

1 Although Germany signed surrender documents (“The 1st Instrument of Surrender”) on the 7th May at Reims in France, at the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), in the presence of representatives of all the Allied Powers – Britain, France, the USA and Russia – the Russian military command insisted on another surrender document – with a few minor amendments. This was signed in Berlin, on the following day, and was the document that Russia then officially recognised). The ceasefire began on 8th May anyway. 

2 Walter Kendall Gott (b. 1893): born in Cowling. A journalist in Northampton, he was called up in 1915 for the First World War. After 2 months in hospital with shell-shock, he was transferred into clerical work with the Army Service Corps in Salonika. After the war, Walter returned to his parents’ home in Cowling. In 1922 he married widow, Gladys Martha (née Edmondson) Carruthers (1893-1963) – she had previously married a lieutenant in the 5th West Riding Regiment in 1914, but he was killed in action in France in November 1918. Walter and Gladys settled in Skipton, where he became sub-editor of the ‘Craven Herald’ newspaper, and their two children, Neville and Annie Mavis (1926-2013), were born. 

3 ‘Craven Herald and Pioneer newspaper’, 1st June, 1945; also published in the ‘Bradford Observer’, 29th May 1945. 

4 Raleigh Hunt Hargreaves (1914-2002) was a prominent local figure – born in Embsay, he was 22 when he became the 3rd generation in the family to be company director and manager of Halton East Quarry. He was brought up at ‘Hawbank’, Embsay then at ‘The Garth’ (Primrose Cottage’), on Pasture Road. He married Nancy Riddihough in 1946 and moved to Raikeswood House, Skipton that year. However he maintained his links to Embsay as Secretary, then President, of Embsay Cricket Club for many years, and no doubt visiting his mother and sister who continued to live at ‘The Garth’. 

This is Part One of a short series of history posts relating to V.E. Day, 1945 – Parts Two and Three will relate the stories of former prisoners of war, Sidney Waterfall and Frank Hill, who returned home to Embsay just before V.E. Day. 

Jane Lunnon, Embsay-with-Eastby Historical Research Group.