Today, HSDC Havant is announcing a £43,860 grant from The National Lottery Heritage
Fund to allow students to work with the Royal Armouries: Fort Nelson to celebrate the 80th
anniversary of Victory in Europe day and preserve memories for future generations.
There were joyous celebrations across the country following Germany’s surrender to the
Allies on 8th May 1945, none more so than in Portsmouth, which had played a critical
strategic role in the war. Festivities in the city were recorded by the Portsmouth News, but
the archive of the pictures took on the day is undocumented and currently inaccessible to
the public.
Working with staff at Fort Nelson and professional filmmakers from Millstream Productions
in Emsworth, digital media students at HSDC Havant will feature the photographs as part of
a short documentary that will mark VE Day in Portsmouth. The students also plan to bring
together existing testimony of those who attended the celebration events and hope to
interview some of the few people who are still alive and were present on the day. The
documentary will be shown during a two-day VE Day 80th anniversary event to be held at
Fort Nelson in July. In addition, the students will help digitise all existing materials related to
VE Day in Portsmouth and make it accessible to the public via a digital archive.
Media lecturer Steve Murray from HSDC said: “We are thrilled to have received this support
from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, the events
that took place in Portsmouth on VE Day will be better recorded and made accessible to the
public.”
Stuart McLeod, Director of England – London & South at The National Lottery Heritage
Fund, said: “We are delighted to support this project, which thanks to money raised by
National Lottery players, will mean that more people will be able to get involved with,
protect, and learn about the exciting heritage right on their doorstep. Heritage has a huge
role to play in instilling pride in communities and boosting local economies, and this project
is a fantastic example of achieving those aims.”
Nigel Hosier, Head of Operations, at Royal Armouries Fort Nelson, said: “We are delighted
to be working alongside HSDC and Millstream as the heritage partner on this exciting
project. These students will be creating a piece of history which is significant to mark this
anniversary but will also be treasured by generations to come. We’re excited to see the
footage produced by the students and look forward to screening the film at an event to mark
VE/VJ Days in the summer at Fort Nelson.”
Students at the college are keen to hear from anyone who can remember the events of VE
Day in and around Portsmouth and are able to share their memories. Please contact Steve
Murray via email at steve.murray@hsdc.ac.uk with any information.
