Aura Sabadus It was back to bully beef and jellies as a group of elderly residents from Swaffham remembered the hardships of war yesterday .But it was hardly a day of gloom for the pensioners at Suffield Court who celebrated V-Day listening to the music of their youth and sharing memories at a venue awash with Union Jacks and patriotic banners.

Aura Sabadus

It was back to bully beef and jellies as a group of elderly residents from Swaffham remembered the hardships of war yesterday.

But it was hardly a day of gloom for the pensioners at Suffield Court who celebrated V-Day listening to the music of their youth and sharing memories at a venue awash with Union Jacks and patriotic banners.

“We thought it would be so nice if we could get together and remember this day,” said 87-year-old Sadie List who joined the WRAF as a cook early in her youth.

“V-Day meant a lot to my generation. It marked the end of fear from air raids and power blackouts. We still experienced food shortages for a few years after the end of the war, but there was peace.”

Mrs List whose first husband died during the D-Day landings in Normandy said people should not forget the sacrifice of those who fought in the second world war.

“There are a few other people living on the estate who were in the NAAFI [the retail and leisure services catering for the armed forces] during the war and have very vivid memories of those days. There are others who were too young to remember it, but have a lot of respect for those who fought and died in the war,” said Mrs List who was born in Belfast.

Pam Gayfer, the residence's warden who helped organise the celebrations at Suffield Court said the pensioners had been looking forward to the celebrations.

“Whenever we plan a day, they prepare for it with gusto,” she said.

“The whole idea about the V-Day celebrations started with a tea towel which had some flags on it. When residents saw it they thought we should have a special day remembering the war.

“So we organised this special day and brought in a buffet with bully beef and jellies, exactly what they would have had back in those days,” she added.