We are holding two events to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, starting with a talk by Liz Parkinson on Friday, 9th May at 7.30 pm in the main hall of the Community Centre, Market Deeping. She will focus on the experiences of local people, and we are fortunate to have the wartime notebooks of Gordon Crowson, a member of the Special Constabulary in Deeping. He recorded a wide range of incidents, including plane crashes, while carrying out his duties. Local veterans of the First World War, some at an advanced age, also stepped forward to do their bit as Home Guards and Air Raid Wardens to protect the community.

Approximately two hundred Deeping men and women served in the armed forces and ten lost their lives. Others were captured and suffered as German or Japanese prisoners of war, but remarkably they all survived, although scarred by their experiences. The bench on Riverside Park near The Boundary, is in memory of Councillor Reg Howard and his contribution to the local community in war and peacetime. In 2002 he dedicated a plaque nearby “To the people of Deeping St James and Market Deeping who participated in any way in the conflicts of the 20th century at home and overseas”.

Liz’s talk will include memories of a wife making up Red Cross parcels for her POW husband who she hadn’t seen for four years, an airman who was rescued from the sea on D Day and an Army Sergeant who met Monty in South Africa. There are civilian memories of a baby being carried in her mother’s arms when a plane was about to crash into their farmhouse, a three-year-old being carried on the shoulders of an American airman to Maxey House for a party … and many more.

On Sunday, 11th May between 11 am and 4 pm there will be an exhibition in the Community Centre, Market Deeping to celebrate the Deepings war time generation at home and abroad, with photographs, artefacts, model aircraft and extensive research relating to local people of that era. Our aim is to honour and preserve their experiences.

Everyone is welcome to join in both events. Admission to the talk is £3, and entry to the exhibition is free. Bring family and friends!