VE Day: Hundreds stood in the rain at the Odeon to watch Scarborough's parade for Thanksgiving Day
This picture shows Scarborough’s Thanksgiving Day service, on Sunday May 13 1945, which took place in torrential rain.
The spectators’ tears of joy were matched by the deluge from above.
Despite the weather, a huge crowd watched at the Odeon Corner and joined in an emotional and dignified service.
A parade of about 3,000 Armed Forces and civilian war services personnel gathered at St John’s Road Barracks. It consisted of 36 different units, ranging from ARP wardens and Special Constables to Sea Cadets and Girl Guides.
Led by the Royal Marines Band, the parade marched via Falsgrave to the railway station, where the units lined up in front of West Square, near the Odeon (now the Stephen Joseph Theatre).
The 20-minute Thanksgiving service, including a patriotic speech from the mayor Alderman George Pindar, was relayed to the crowd by loudspeakers, and then the parade marched down Westborough and Newborough, applauded all the way, to disperse near St Nicholas Street.