Meet the Edinburgh couples who tied the knot as the crowds partied in the streets to celebrate VE Day

It was a celebration like no other for John Allister and Kathleen Aikman. May 8, 1945 was VE Day, when crowds in Edinburgh and across the UK partied to mark the end of six years at war – but it was also John and Kathleen's wedding day.

John Allister and Kathleen Aikman were married at St Serf's Church, Goldenacre - pic courtesy of Anne Allister

The couple tied the knot at St Serf's Church, Goldenacre, before a lunch in the Charlotte Rooms and a honeymoon in Perthshire.

Their story is told on the ScotlandsPeople website to mark the official release of the 1945 register of marriage entries by National Records of Scotland.

And the online piece was seen by John and Kathleen's daughter, Anne, who lives in Preston. She contacted the NRS and sent them photos of her parents' wedding and some extra details to complete the story.

During the war John was awarded the Lloyd's Medal for gallantry at sea and also the Distinguished Service Cross Medal - pic courtesy of Anne Allister.

"It was just chance they got married on VE Day – it just happened to be the day they had chosen," she said. "My dad was in the merchant navy so I imagine he was away a lot and I think it must have coincided with when he had leave because it wasn't even a weekend, it was a Tuesday."

She said the family had been thinking of her parents amid the VE Day 75th anniversary commemorations last year.

"My dad never talked about his war experience - I think he was traumatised as a lot of people were. But I remember my mum talking about the wedding and how everybody was up lampposts looking at the crowd and it was busy place. It must have been a very exciting day for them.”

During the war John had served as an engineer on the SS Narkunda, which was bombed and sunk by a German aircraft off Algeria on November 14, 1942, after landing troops for the North African campaign. Some 31 crew members were killed. The survivors, including John, were picked up by the minesweeper HMS Cadmus and returned to Britain. John was awarded the Lloyd’s Medal for gallantry at sea “for courage and devotion to duty in action with the enemy” and also the Distinguished Service Cross Medal “for bravery in defensively equipped merchant ships during the hazardous passage to North Africa”.

John Allister served as an engineer in the merchant navy - pic courtesy of Anne Allister

Anne said her parents first met on a golf course in Galashiels while John was home on leave. Kathleen had been born in Galashiels, but moved with her family first to Glasgow and then Edinburgh, where she lived from when she was about 16 until she got married. John had been born in South Africa, but his father died when he was very young and he moved with his mother first to Australia and then to Galashiels, where he did an apprenticeship in the mills.

On her wedding day, Kathleen wore a white gown with silver brocade and, like Jean, her veil was held in place by a headdress of orange blossom.

She was described in the marriage record as a “physical instructress” and in The Scotsman as a “well-known hockey player”.

After the lunch the newly weds enjoyed a trip to the Empire Theatre to watch the play The Lisbon Story and then went to stay at the Roman Camp Hotel in Perthshire.

They lived in Glasgow when they were first married and had two sons there, but moved to Bristol in the early 1950s, where Anne was born and John worked for Distillers as a mechinical engineer in their yeast factory. Every year on their anniversary John gave red roses to Kathleen as a memory of their special day. John died in 1984 and Kathleen in 2014, aged 95.

A total of 48,728 marriages were registered in Scotland in 1945 – nearly 12,000 more than the previous year and the second biggest number since statutory registration began in 1855. The surge in marriages was put down to relief that the war was finally over. The only year to see more weddings was 1940, when couples were deciding to take the plunge because they did not know what the future held.

Another couple married on VE Day were Michael Lorimer and Jean Mary Monteith, whose wedding took place at St Mary’s Cathedral.

Michael was the youngest son of Sir Robert Lorimer, a renowned Scottish architect, restorer of historic houses and castles and designer of the Scottish National War Memorial. Jean’s father, Major Joseph Monteith, owned extensive woodlands, farm, and houses in Carstairs and was a convener of Lanarkshire County Council.

The couple’s engagement had been announced in The Scotsman on December 28, 1944. Michael was described as a Writer to the Signet at an Edinburgh legal firm and Jean as an assistant to the Agricultural Executive Committee of Midlothian.

Jean wore a dress of ivory brocaded silk with a small train. The Carluke and Lanark Gazette reported that her veil was made of Brussels lace with orange blossom and she carried red roses. She was supported by four bridesmaids who wore dresses of gold net with green sashes, and was walked down the aisle by her father. The reception was at the North British Hotel on Princes Street.

Michael worked as a solicitor for the remainder of his life and died in South Queensferry in 1991, aged 79. Jean lived another six years and died in 1997, also in South Queensferry.Veronica Schreuder, an outreach archivist at NRS, who researched the 1945 weddings and wrote the website piece, said: “When we research articles to be published online and in print, we always bear in mind that relatives of the people we feature may read our work. But it was a wonderful surprise when John and Kathleen’s daughter, Anne, contacted us out of the blue to kindly offer to send us images of the wedding day, and her father’s medal. Anne said that the VE wedding article on ScotlandsPeople had almost brought her parents to life again.”

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