Val Royston’s Story

Available for over a year

Val Royston from Sheffield was in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) based in London when she and her fellow Wrens heard hostilities in Europe were over. She spent the day of celebration with the throng outside Buckingham Palace. Val was 27-years-old at the time and was quartered in Bayswater in South London. She had mainly spent her time during the war working on punch card Hollerith machines that kept track of naval personnel. As soon as she and her fellow Wrens heard that they'd got the day off to celebrate VE day they all headed straight for the Mall and bagged a prime position outside the gates. She stayed there most of the day and saw the King, Queen and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret come out on to the balcony. Winston Churchill also came to greet the crowds. Although some of her friends went on partying into the night in Piccadilly, Val went home to write up the events of the day and send a long letter to her parents back in Greystones in Sheffield. She remembers a day with a great atmosphere and huge crowds that would fall quiet when the royal family returned inside and and let off a great roar when they came out again onto the balcony. She told BBC Radio Sheffield's Kate Linderholm how she heard the war in Europe was over. Image: Val Royston