Saskatoon woman shares memories as the 75th anniversary of VE Day is marked

Friday marks the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day.

Shirley Vick says she will never forget the sound of the soldiers marching in Saskatoon at the beginning of the Second World War.

It was Dec. 4, 1939 and she was almost four years old.

“You could hear their heavy boots stamping on the road as they marched by,” she said. “They had their big packs on their backs, they had their rifles, they were in full uniform.”

Vick and her family lived on Lorne Avenue. She followed her mother outside and saw the soldiers marching down the road. They were coming from the armoury and heading to the train station downtown.

She remembers seeing her mother and many others on the sidewalk crying as they stood and watched.

“It was very, very solemn,” Vick recalled. “The only sound you could hear was the marching on the street as they marched by, and that is what I think imprinted itself. I heard that marching, and it went by and people were crying.”

Just shy of four years old, she really didn’t understand what was happening, but knew it was an important day.

“Some of the wives were right up walking along beside their husbands or sweethearts along the road, and as we got a little bit further along the children were coming out of Buena Vista School and onto the street and the young boys were following after the soldiers,” Vick said.

She says that day had a huge impact on her and the memory has stayed with her.

Her father and four of his brothers eventually enlisted and served in the Second World War and fortunately they all returned.