VE Day. Friday 8th May 1945.
Not many Great Coxwell residents remember VE Day. But, seventy-five years ago, Ted Nieass, (Sandcroft), was a twenty-year old RAF pilot as the war in Europe came to an end. What were his memories of VE Day? Our investigative reporter went to find out! It turns out that Ted was the other side of the Atlantic on 8th May 1945. His WW2 story begins three years earlier, when at the age of just 18, he volunteered to become an RAF pilot and was summoned to Lords Cricket Ground, of all places, to be inducted into the RAF. Amusingly, Ted remembers being put up, eight to a room, in commandeered luxury flats in Maida Vale. London Zoo was their temporary cookhouse…The wild animals had packed their bags and been evacuated to Whipsnade Zoo, apart from the monkeys, who remained!
Not many Great Coxwell residents remember VE Day. But, seventy-five years ago, Ted Nieass, (Sandcroft), was a twenty-year old RAF pilot as the war in Europe came to an end. What were his memories of VE Day? Our investigative reporter went to find out! It turns out that Ted was the other side of the Atlantic on 8th May 1945. His WW2 story begins three years earlier, when at the age of just 18, he volunteered to become an RAF pilot and was summoned to Lords Cricket Ground, of all places, to be inducted into the RAF. Amusingly, Ted remembers being put up, eight to a room, in commandeered luxury flats in Maida Vale. London Zoo was their temporary cookhouse…The wild animals had packed their bags and been evacuated to Whipsnade Zoo, apart from the monkeys, who remained!
Ted Nieass
Roll forward to November 1944, and Ted arrives in Terrel, Texas, to begin his flying training at the No 1 British Flying Training School. At this stage in the war, all flying training was overseas, either Canada, the USA or Southern Rhodesia. He began his training on Stearman PT-18 bi-planes, and then graduated to the Harvard, (AT-6) Trainer. His instructors were all American commercial pilots. (One of the other students at Terrel was the actor, Robert Hardy.) Ted’s life in Terrel was wonderful. The RAF aircrew were thoroughly spoilt by the local population. Indeed, the town still keep in contact with their Allied guests and publish an annual BFTS newsletter!
Two Harvard AT-6 Trainers flying over Texas, 1945
Ted recalls that VE Day was not hugely celebrated in Texas, for understandable reasons. The war in the Pacific was still raging in May 1945, and the US were taking heavy casualties in that theatre. Ted returned to the UK on the Queen Mary on his 21st birthday in July 1945, and married Joan the following year.
Ted Nieass (far right) and his RAF colleagues with their US pilot instructor (middle), Terrel, Texas, 1945.
Ted and Joan Nieass on their wedding day in 1946.
When the glut of pilots subsided after the war, Ted went on to become a jet fighter pilot in the fifties and sixties, finishing his flying career leading an RAF training team with the Kenya Air Force in the mid-seventies, before a posting to RMCS Shrivenham and retiring from the service in 1979. He then spent six years as Bursar at Christs Hospital Girls' School in Hertford finally coming home to Great Coxwell in 1986. He was soon persuaded to become Parish Clerk; a job that lasted for thirteen years, while Joan was WI Treasurer during ten of them.
Ted has one daughter, Jenny, three grandsons, Christopher, Martyn and Jonathan, all in their forties and one great granddaughter, Emilia Rose, Jon's child, born last September.
Ted has one daughter, Jenny, three grandsons, Christopher, Martyn and Jonathan, all in their forties and one great granddaughter, Emilia Rose, Jon's child, born last September.
Friday 11th May – 75th Anniversary of VE Day
Great Coxwell marked the 75th Anniversary of VE Day on Friday the best we could, given the continuing lockdown restrictions. Musical entertainment at the bottom of the village kicked off with Nick Warr playing the Last Post and then Glenn Miller’s ‘In the Mood’ brilliantly on his saxophone. This was followed by Nancy Smith, playing the National Anthem and then ‘the Can-Can’ very assuredly from her improvised stage – her Dad’s 1943 EAC ‘Matador’ towing lorry, (once used to tow artillery guns to the battlefield).
At the top of the village, Lynette Stulting and her band…more like an orchestra!... played Vera Lynn’s famous song, ‘We’ll meet again’, followed by ‘A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square’. It was hugely appreciated by the socially distanced audience.
Below are some of the video recordings, and some photographs of village residents taken from Friday evening …..
(The Last Post) - Nick
(In the Mood) - Nick
(Can Can) – Nancy - (Offenbach's Infernal Galop)
(We’ll Meet Again) Lynette Stulting Band
Great Coxwell marked the 75th Anniversary of VE Day on Friday the best we could, given the continuing lockdown restrictions. Musical entertainment at the bottom of the village kicked off with Nick Warr playing the Last Post and then Glenn Miller’s ‘In the Mood’ brilliantly on his saxophone. This was followed by Nancy Smith, playing the National Anthem and then ‘the Can-Can’ very assuredly from her improvised stage – her Dad’s 1943 EAC ‘Matador’ towing lorry, (once used to tow artillery guns to the battlefield).
At the top of the village, Lynette Stulting and her band…more like an orchestra!... played Vera Lynn’s famous song, ‘We’ll meet again’, followed by ‘A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square’. It was hugely appreciated by the socially distanced audience.
Below are some of the video recordings, and some photographs of village residents taken from Friday evening …..
(The Last Post) - Nick
(In the Mood) - Nick
(Can Can) – Nancy - (Offenbach's Infernal Galop)
(We’ll Meet Again) Lynette Stulting Band
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A few Snapshots of the Evening
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Great Coxwell Community Fund.
The Great Coxwell Community Fund is managed by its Trustees, Pam Smith, Pauline Durham, Sylvia Athawes and Annabelle Zinovieff. It is available for village community events, but also, in extremis, for those in difficulties who have tried all other avenues for support. If you are struggling and need a little help, please contact Pam Smith in the first instance.
Pam Smith – 01367 240233 or email on Chris Smith christopherrobertsmith@gmail.com
That’s it for this week. At last, we heard some good news last night about the Government’s plans to end the lockdown. Hurrah! What is clear from the last two months is how the village has pulled together, how we have all looked out for each other, and how we have helped and cared for each other in adversity. My thanks to everyone for all their kindness and consideration so far. In a funny way, Great Coxwell feels a closer-knit community now. One positive from the lockdown.
Stay Safe,
Best regards,
Mandy xx
The Great Coxwell Community Fund is managed by its Trustees, Pam Smith, Pauline Durham, Sylvia Athawes and Annabelle Zinovieff. It is available for village community events, but also, in extremis, for those in difficulties who have tried all other avenues for support. If you are struggling and need a little help, please contact Pam Smith in the first instance.
Pam Smith – 01367 240233 or email on Chris Smith christopherrobertsmith@gmail.com
That’s it for this week. At last, we heard some good news last night about the Government’s plans to end the lockdown. Hurrah! What is clear from the last two months is how the village has pulled together, how we have all looked out for each other, and how we have helped and cared for each other in adversity. My thanks to everyone for all their kindness and consideration so far. In a funny way, Great Coxwell feels a closer-knit community now. One positive from the lockdown.
Stay Safe,
Best regards,
Mandy xx
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