VE Day in Crawley in 1945 was celebrated with great gusto

As the armies of liberation progressed through occupied Europe en route to Berlin, at home coastal defences were gradually removed, tenders being invited for the demolition of the dragons teeth and pill boxes which had been so feverishly constructed in 1940.

At Bognor and Worthing, barbed wire was cleared away from the promenade, giving some small children their first glimpse of an unobstructed seafront, though the beaches still had to be cleared of mines.