'The moment a Nazi U-boat met us to surrender' - vivid VE Day memories from veterans in the West Midlands and Shropshire

For the Special Boat Service man, who lived in Porthywaen, near Oswestry, it was a particularly poignant experience, as he navigated the vessel safely to a harbour in Scotland. He found that, just like him, the enemy crew's main reaction was one of relief that the fighting was over.

Roy, who was 23 at the time, was serving aboard the destroyer HMS Ramsey in the North Sea. Once Germany's unconditional surrender had been agreed, all U-boat crews in the North Sea were ordered by their superiors to surface and display a black flag, indicating their surrender.

A British officer and SBS man had to board each sub, and take them into the harbour.

"We boarded, and were met by the skipper Lieutenant Jobst," said Roy in a 1995 interview.

"He was very pleasant, and spoke good English."

He handed Roy his moleskin trousers as a gesture of goodwill, but he didn't hang on to them for long - they mysteriously disappeared when he got back to the barracks.

"The majority of the men were just like us, glad the ward was over," he said.

"But a few of them were obviously Nazis and despised us."

Roy spent a day and a half on the submarine, taking her into the harbour at Dundee, spending the whole journey below decks.

He served for three years in the war, seeing service in the Far and Middle East, as well as Europe.

Towards the end of the war, he was sent to Scotland for training on 'midget'' submarines - but he shouldn't really have gone.

Just before the training was to begin, he suffered a leg injury and received hospital treatment. He was discharged with a letter saying he needed an operation, but when the training came up, he managed to 'lose' the letter.

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For Jim Stowe, from Shrewsbury, memories of VE Day were somewhat hazy amid some hedonistic celebrations in Flanders.

A gunner with the 150th The Loyals L A A Regiment, affiliated to the Royal Artillery, his unit had been moved back Antwerp to guard the city's docks. They had been moved to regroup and rest after a period of combat. 

"We had waited so long for that day," he said in 1995. "We spent it touring around Antwerp, singing and shouting, and of course, the usual drinking."

The police in Belgium were less impressed.

"The local bobbies were dismayed by the large numbers of Bren carriers, jeeps and other army vehicles tearing around the city streets with lads waving and shouting," he said. 

His unit had spent time in Belgium, Holland, France and Germany.