Come to our VE-Day event on Saturday 9th May!
We are holding a special open day to celebrate VE-Day (8th May 1945) on its 70th anniversary. VE-Day was ‘Victory in Europe’ Day and it marked the end of the war in Europe during WW2. It was a day of great celebration, with people dancing in the streets all over Britain.
Here at Roman Circus House, there will be vintage military vehicles* from WW2 and the 1940s, two guided tours by Peter Hall, a small exhibition, the cafe, and a lively outdoor concert with the Tendring Thunderbirds quintet and two professional soloists, singers Natasha Bennett and Fiona Morris of local vocal group Quattro Amici. (The Tendring Thunderbirds quintet are Chris Strachan (trumpets), Frank Weatherley (saxophones), Trummy Mayhew (trombone), Mike Hurrell (piano), and John Sutton (drums).) We are hoping that visitors will come along to join in and enjoy themselves at the concert by singing along!
Roman Circus House was built in 1937 and it was originally the NAAFI of the Artillery (Le Cateau) Barracks at Colchester’s famous old garrison.
Admission free. The ground floor of Roman Circus House is wheelchair/pushchair accessible. Please bring a deckchair to the outdoor concert!
WW2 veterans will be very welcome to come and enjoy a free cup of tea and biscuits.
Our VE-Day event in detail:
11.00am – guided WW2 tour of the old garrison by Peter Hall
12.00pm – guided WW2 tour of the old garrison by Peter Hall
2.00-3.00pm – the Tendring Thunderbirds in concert
3.00pm – soloists Natasha and Fiona will perform two songs by the Andrews Sisters and two well-known songs written by Ross Parker (‘We’ll meet again’ and ‘There’ll always be an England’: it is thought that Ross Parker was stationed at Colchester garrison during WW2)
3.30-4.30pm – the Tendring Thunderbirds in concert.
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Our small exhibition will include a photo. of a VE-Day party in 1945 in a building on the Abbey Field in Colchester, near Roman Circus House, where one party-goer was the mother of one of the Trust’s volunteers. It will also include a copy of a letter written by Winston Churchill to the mother of one of the Trust’s archaeologists at the end of the war! The 27th Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery was stationed in the Artillery (Le Cateau) Barracks in 1939: the son of Sergeant Goodman who served in the brigade is a dedicated Colchester archaeologist (Don Goodman) and we have a display of photo.s of Sergeant Goodman in the circus centre. The 27th Brigade was sent to France in late 1939 and took part in the Battle of France, culminating in the famous evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940, where Sergeant Goodman was injured. The 27th Brigade finished the war in Burma.
Colchester was well defended during WW2 and there were several military airfields in the surrounding area (RAF Birch, RAF Boxted, RAF Wormingford, RAF Earls Colne, RAF Bradwell Bay). Colchester garrison itself was a very busy place during the war, and a lot of soldiers were demobbed here at the end of the war. VE-Day (Victory in Europe) was a very significant day during WW2, marking the end of the war in Europe. VE-Day in 1945 was followed by a public holiday. It is such an important day in British history that we felt that we had to commemorate it.
* If the weather is good, then the vintage military vehicles on display here should consist of a lorry, up to five Jeeps, and two motorbikes, as well as two collections of militaria. If it is raining on the day, then there should be at least one Jeep, the two motorbikes and the two collections of militaria.
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