VE Day 80 years on: 'Flag girl' reflects on iconic photo and tragedy that came after

Clutching a Union Jack, Maureen Shroll, innocently captured the mood of millions of Britons on VE Day 80 years ago today. Dressed in over-sized dungarees, the youngster was playing near her home by the rubble of bombed-out houses in Battersea, south London, on May 8, 1945, as the nation poured onto the streets to savour freedom. A series of shots taken by a now-unknown American photographer has since become iconic images of the end of war in Europe.

“I was just coming up for two when the wonderful photos were taken,” recalls Maureen, who turns 82 later this month. “Even today those shots stir emotions because they are just so poignant. I was little more than a toddler but I looked as though I knew something big was going on and I wanted to be part of it.

“The scenes look so natural, a little girl being looked after by her friends and neighbours after such awful times. Homes were ruined, people had died but there is a sense of hope in our small community. People knew there were better days ahead. Obviously, I can’t remember that day, but you can see in my face that I know it’s an historic time. The images have become part of history now. People still remember them after all these decades.”

Joining the fun in Henley Street was her fellow ‘flag girl’, Jeannie Lebby, then aged four, whose joy is plain to see. Tragically, Jeannie succumbed to meningitis less than a month after the pictures were taken – a tragedy which shocked the local community just as people were getting back on their feet and trying to put the trauma of war behind them.

Maureen tells the Daily Express: “When I look at the photos I think about Jeannie and what sort of life she could have lived. It makes me sad to think about her to this day. She was desperately unlucky.” Growing up in bomb-blitzed London was potentially deadly for Maureen and her four siblings with unexploded bombs all over the city and crumbling buildings waiting to be bulldozed. But she was an adventurous child with a devil-may-care attitude to the risks.

“We all knew each other in Henley Street,” she continues. “We’d all gone through the bombings and we knew how hard it had been. Everyone knew we lived at number ten, the Shrolls at number ten. But as children we still wanted to have fun, enjoy ourselves. We used to play in the bombed out houses, hide and seek and all sorts of games. You never knew what you might find in the rubble, but we didn’t really think of the dangers.

“Once I fell through a floor and hurt my back, but there was little time for tears. I just dusted myself down and got on with it. My mum gave the bruises a rub and said, ‘You’re all right now,’ off you go’. All the kids were playing on the bomb sites. Eventually, they were cleared away but it took a long time.

“We lived outside most of the time. We hardly spent any time inside. We didn’t have central heating and there were five of us to feed and clothe. Money was tight but we were well looked after. Mum and dad did everything they could for us to give us a good start in life.”

Maureen’s father, Fred, was a dustman and her mother, Harriet, had her hands full looking after the home but also worked as a cook at Battersea power station. Staring at the famous prints, which the Daily Express had colourised, Maureen adds: “To this day I have very happy memories of my childhood. Battersea Park was nearby and we would go over there all the time to play. They built a fun park there with bumper cars and a bigger dipper ride. Imagine having a place like that on your doorstep. It was fantastic.

“I even got a job there selling candy floss when I was a bit older. As a teenager, I felt very safe in London. You didn’t worry about crime, being mugged or anything like that. There was petty crime but nothing bad like murders. We had quite a few cat burglars, that sticks in my mind. I went to Latchmere Primary school in Battersea and then to William Blake school. Both of the schools were excellent. I learnt how to read and write, needlework, PE, history, geography and all sorts.

“I left at the age of 15 to work at a mail order firm and then for an estate agent which was opposite the House of Commons. I loved the independence and the opportunities as a young woman. ”

She was soon earning £19 a week, way more than her father’s wages of just £4 a week. “I didn’t tell Dad what I earned because I didn’t want him to feel bad about it. I gave mum money so she could buy extras for the house. As a family we all pulled together to make the most of what we had. I remember it being a very hopeful time. We were moving forward. People want to get on and help the country.”

Maureen had two sisters, Betty and Violet, who were much older than her and fussed over their ‘Little Mo’. Her older brothers, Maurice and John, also kept a close eye on the youngest of the brood. All her siblings have now passed away. They had nursed Maureen when she needed an eye operation, aged seven, at the renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

When she was 19 she married Colin Jenkins, an electrician and butcher and had two daughters, Dawn and Lynn. During labour with Dawn she developed appendicitis and came close to death. She was only saved with an emergency operation on the NHS. Again, her family were by her side as she recovered. The sense of risk and darling endured in her young adult life. With Colin and the girls, they become so-called ten pound poms.

“We sailed to Australia to start a new life in the sunshine,” Maureen recalls wistfully. “I’d hardly been outside London before we set sail. All I’d really done was some hop picking in Kent. We were at sea for about eight weeks and stopped at South Africa, the Canary islands and we docked at Perth.

“We lived outside Sydney and took advantage of the opportunities that came our way. Colin was a very good electrician, he could turn his hand to anything so he never struggled for work. He even worked as a butcher as well to earn more money.

“We had a wonderful life, but I did miss home, London and my parents. Sadly, both my mother and father died soon after we came back after six years in Australia. It was a very hard blow to take.”

Colin died of a virus nearly three decades ago and Maureen is now enjoying her retirement in Norfolk, living with her eldest daughter Dawn in a village called Feltwell, near Thetford. Dawn’s son Brett, her grandson, lives in America. Maureen’s daughter Lynn also married an American and has a daughter.

“Sadly Lynn’s husband Dennis died some years ago and Dawn is divorced, so we’ve had heartache in our family, but we are a very strong family,” adds Muareen. “When I was raised family was everything, and I still believe that to this day.”

Today the family will gather for a glass of Champagne. “The toast will be to those who gave their lives in the war, so that we could live our lives,” added Maureen. “For me remembering VE Day is the same as Remembrance Day. I will also raise my glass to Queen Elizabeth, who was a big part of my life.”