"Thank God it’s over" On the 80th anniversary of VE Day veterans in Salford look back
In life you are told often not to meet your heroes, but this time I am glad I did. Eight decades on, we explore the contribution of people living in Salford to WWII.
In this week’s newsletter, we look at the 80th anniversary of VE Day and the residents in Salford who remember Victory in Europe.
This newsletter will also look at the clinic teaming up with Salford City for skin cancer awareness, LS Lowry’s Going to the Match comes to life, and the Salford dance academy who were crowned World Champions.
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80th anniversary of VE Day in Salford
“I had a good time in the army,” recalls Peter Belcher. “Obviously, there are ups and downs. But everything we were asked to do, we did.”
“My war ended on the 6th of May, when we met up with the Russians. I was an anti-tank gunner, and someone shouted out to me, ‘whatever you do, don’t fire if you see anything, especially tanks: they are Russians!’”
Sat across from me at Broughton House Veteran Care Village is Donald Peter Belcher, to give him his full name, who, at the age of 101, recalls his time serving in the army during WWII, and the events of that day 80 years ago that would go down in history.
Already a veteran of the D-Day landings serving in the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Airborne Division and the Battle of the Bulge - he was decorated six times After fighting his way across France, for which he received the Legion d’Honneur, by May 1945 his unit was stationed near the Baltic coast, meeting Russian troops advancing from the east. He was among the Allied forces that witnessed first-hand the horror of the Nazi concentration camps.
“On VE Day itself we were heading towards a Nazi concentration camp, and the gates were open. However, I always remember that there were two men still in the camp because they were too scared to leave.
“They thought that if they stepped through the gates, they would be shot. They just couldn’t believe that it was over.”
Mr Belcher says VE Day meant ‘relief’, adding: “As a whole, you said, ‘Thank God it’s over’.” But that period of relief was quickly brought to a halt, as within 10 days he was back in England, soon leaving again to fight the ongoing war in the Far East.
“The celebrations should have begun, but before the war ended, we were told that we had been earmarked to go to the Far East to fight the war over there. I was given ten days in Germany after the war, and then we sailed across the Mediterranean heading to Japan. We left Gibraltar, but then the Americans dropped the bombs — I thought we were going to head back, but no, we had to keep sailing on.”
It wasn’t until January 1947 that Mr Belcher would return home, as he recalls: “I returned home, and that is when I married my wife. So finally, good celebrations, especially when I came into the north of England.
“I was the youngest of twelve in the family, and seven of us were in the forces. For all of us to come back after was special. Sadly, I am the last one standing.”
Post-war, he embraced civilian life, marrying his wife Annie, fondly known as Nancy, and raising a son. Living in Blackley, Manchester, he found work, first on the railways and later at the ICI.
Mr Belcher remains an avid football fan, with his team of choice being Manchester City Football Club — he even received a birthday card from Pep Guardiola for his 100th birthday.
Mr Belcher is among the 60 or so veterans who live at Broughton House Care Village in Salford, which has looked after more than 8,000 veterans since it first opened its doors in 1916.
Another resident, Jean Mack, aged 92, joined the Royal Navy at the age of 21, remembers the war ending as a teenager growing up in Worthing, East Sussex.
Mrs Mack said: “I presumed it was over simply because all the adults seemed to be going mad about something and dancing everywhere.
“There was a big air-raid shelter at the end of our road, and there was a piper, how he got up on there I don’t know… complete in his kilt, marching round and round the top of there.
She recalls how, in a time of extraordinary events, very little seemed out of the ordinary.
“There was a party of sorts, with tables and banners — everyone was dancing in the street,” she continues. “But growing up during the war, it was the norm for us.
“But it is always something I think about — anything to do with the services is worth celebrating, because without the effort during the war… if Hitler got across the channel as he intended, it would be a very different world.
“We will never have to know what that world would be like because of that.”
Following the war and growing up in Worthing, Mrs Mack was inspired by her father, who had served in the army as a batman (a soldier or airman assigned as a personal servant to a commissioned officer), and at the age of 21 she joined the Royal Navy.
Her father had initially refused to let her go but her mother was eventually able to convince him otherwise; Mrs Mack was enlisted as an Aircraft Mechanic aboard the HMS Vanguard, amongst other ships.
Following her service, she married and became a housewife moving to Manchester, from where her husband hailed, where she raised two daughters and a son. One of her daughters, Carol, took after her mother and served in the Royal Navy.
In 1995, Mrs Mack started volunteering at Broughton House, becoming good friends with former Broughton House Chief Executive, Colonel Donald Gibbs. She has very much been an active member of the Broughton House family ever since her arrival as a resident.
She enjoys spending time in the garden (especially when the sun is shining), trips out to the park, shopping and playing Bingo, a true community member of Broughton House.
But both were happy to point out the new flag that sat out the front of the building - the Union Flag rested on mast out of the front of Broughton House, they shared their love and respect for the staff members and many members in the care village as Peter said: “They do work hard these staff members, they deserve a rest themselves - for running around for us.”
But now familiar faces to the staff, both Mr Belcher and Mrs Mack are among the few who still hold precious memories of VE Day. The 80th anniversary of VE Day reminds us of the sacrifice that many young men and women made throughout the war. They might remind us that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
As we celebrate in 2025, it is now our job to continue this legacy — and remember them for they have given us, 80 years on.
Salford competitive dance academy crowned World Champions
A competitive cheerleading and dance team based in Salford have been crowned World Champions along with other incredible results.
The team Red Hot Flames were able to secure a World Championship at The Summit in the United States of America.
The Senior Kick Team, “Intensity,” were crowned World Champions at The Summit, delivering a powerful and precise routine to secure the gold. Read more here.
Salford City team up with clinic for two-day skin cancer screening event
A clinic group dedicated to skin cancer screening partnered with Salford City hosting a two-day session of mole checks for the players.
The screening event was hosted by The Mole Clinic, the only UK private clinic group, and was conducted as a part of the new national initiative to promote early detection. Read more here.
LS Lowry's Going to the Match comes to life at Salford Quays
A unique and immersive art experience has opened at the Lowry, bringing the famous painting Going to the Match to life.
The experience, Lowry 360, opened on Saturday 3 May, and will allow Salford residents to hear factory whistles, excited chatter of an expectant crowd, as they head to the match. Read more here.
Residents invited to have their say on plans to transform Ordsall Lane with 800 new homes
Local people are being invited to have their say on plans to transform Ordsall Lane into a vibrant waterfront community.
The plans are set to bring new homes, open space and improved riverside access with a Pavilion building providing the focus for new commercial and community space.
Residents are being invited to comment on the plans as part of a public consultation which will take place until Thursday 22 May 2025. Read more here.
What’s On in Salford this week
🎖️ Special commemorative celebration will be held in Salford this year to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. The event will be free to attend for all and will begin at 9pm. Find more here.
🏏 An Audience with Aggers and Tuffers on Monday 12 May - Cricket legends Aggers and Tuffers are BACK and ready to bowl you over as they return to the stage with their highly anticipated 2025 tour. Find out more here.
🖼️ Every Line Is Me: A celebration of Harold Riley’s dogs - As part of the wider celebrations of Salford’s famous artist Harold Riley one year since his passing, an exhibition dedicated to his pictures of dogs! Find out more here.
Our photo of the week: Lowry
Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, officially opened on 12 October 2000 by Queen Elizabeth II.
The announcement that the building had been given the go-ahead was described 'This as Salford 's greatest day in living memory,' by Bill Hinds, then leader of the city council.
Famous Salfordians in the arts, including Albert Finney, Ben Kingsley and Robert Powell, were effusive in their praise. The composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies said: “The idea of having a concert hall at the end of the street where you were born is almost too much.”
The complex was designed by Michael Wilford, a winner of the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Stirling Prize for excellence in architecture. He described it as 'a fusion between the monumental tradition of public buildings and the informal, more populist image of today's venues of culture and entertainment'. Groundbreaking took place on 19 June 1997.
Named after one of Britain’s most celebrated painters, it holds the world’s biggest public collection of LS Lowry’s work. And the building, dubbed ‘Salford’s Guggenheim’, has been at the heart of the city’s massive transformation in the Quays and MediaCity, which has made the area an international destination.
And since the Lowry opened it has welcomed 18.5 million visitors — and will be hosting a variety events across the year as a part of its 25th anniversary since its opening.
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