This photograph was taken at a VE Day celebration in May 1945 in the small market town of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. The lady playing the mouth organ was my mother, and I have been told that the small child reaching up to her was me. I remember that hill as once the local kids put me in a handmade cart and let it off down the slope. It was a poor area, but very close to the edge of town, so there were many adventures through the nearby corn fields and lanes full of wild flowers especially wild violets. When I smell the hawthorn blossoms in the spring or see violets I am always transported back to that time.

Source: The Irish Times May 11, 2018 05:03 UTC