Veteran recalls raw onion sandwiches on VE Day

Eric Page served in the Royal Engineers during World War Two

A 102-year-old war veteran has recalled how he marked Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) by eating an unappetising savoury snack.

VE Day marked the end of World War Two in Europe and huge crowds took to the streets on 8 May 1945 to sing, dance and rejoice.

Eric Page left his job at a corset factory in his hometown of Desborough, Northamptonshire, to serve in the Royal Engineers from 1943 until 1948.

He spent the majority of his service based in Kent and said that when news broke of the ceasefire he celebrated "by drinking beer and eating raw onion sandwiches without butter" which "to tell you the truth was not very good".

• VE Day: What is it and why do we remember?

• Holocaust survivor Frank Bright dies, aged 94

• BBC History: World War Two

Mr Page, who worked as an engineer on machine guns and anti-aircraft guns, was 19 years old when he joined up.

"I was down at Chatham at a workshop when they announced it [VE Day] and we went out and had some time [celebrating]," he said.

"Everybody wanted to go out and have a drink."

He recalled hearing from family back in Northamptonshire that pianos had been brought out of clubs in Victoria Street in Desborough so people could celebrate.

"Life was what you made it," he said. "[There were] a lot of times we didn't enjoy obviously. You had to make do with what you'd got".

Mr Page celebrated his 100th birthday in 2023

After the war Mr Page, who was born in March 1923, returned to work in Desborough in various roles maintaining machinery and went on to have three children and five grandchildren.

He now lives in a care home in Northampton and when asked about the secret of his longevity said: "There's no secret, life is what you make it if you put up with what you're given."