🇺🇸 The Night the Town Roared: Norwood’s V-J Day, August 14–15, 1945

It began with a siren.

At precisely 7:03 p.m. on Tuesday, August 14, 1945, the air raid siren atop Norwood’s Municipal Building let loose a piercing wail that shattered the summer stillness. Within seconds, church bells joined the chorus, fire whistles shrieked, and car horns blared in jubilant cacophony. Birds startled from the belfry scattered into the twilight sky. The war was over. Japan had surrendered. Victory was finally, irrevocably, ours.

Washington Street, the town’s arterial lifeline, transformed almost instantly into a river of humanity. From Guild Square to Railroad Avenue, people poured into the streets—laughing, crying, embracing strangers. The crowd swelled so thick that even the thunder of passing trains was drowned out by cheers. Overhead, planes from Norwood Airport swooped and dipped in celebratory arcs, unnoticed by many below who were too busy dancing, shouting, or simply standing in stunned joy.

At St. Catherine’s Church, Father Sullivan opened the doors wide. Parishioners entered silently, some kneeling, some weeping, offering prayers of thanksgiving. Across town, the United Church welcomed worshippers into its sanctuary. Women paused in quiet reflection before returning to the jubilant throng outside. It was a night of paradox—reverence and revelry, solemnity and celebration.

By 8:00 p.m., Central, Nahatan, and Cottage Streets were roped off for a spontaneous block dance. Lester Lee’s orchestra struck up patriotic tunes as couples swayed under the stars. Children clambered onto dump trucks, waving flags and tossing confetti. Seven-year-old Danny Chisholm stood proudly before the crowd and sang “From the Halls of Montezuma,” his voice clear and unwavering. The Sansone Sisters, Miss Genevieve Tomm, and Miss Irene Shimsky followed with stirring renditions of wartime ballads.

Then came “Joe” Jellis—known to all simply as “A Guy Named Joe”—who marched with Parade Marshal Charles Holman and broke into solo dance numbers that sent the crowd into fits of laughter and applause. Sailors kissed girls on Cottage and Washington Streets, and the girls, as the paper noted with a wink, “were more than willing to oblige.”

Despite the wild exuberance, the night remained peaceful. Police Chief William J. Sullivan had deployed every available officer. Sgt. Mark Folan stood guard at Nahatan and Washington, ensuring children were safe amid the chaos. Not a single arrest was made. No vandalism reported. Thirty-two false fire alarms rang out across town, but they were met with good humor and swift response.

The celebration spilled into Wednesday. At 7:00 p.m., Norwood’s Protestant churches united for a Victory Service at the United Church. Rev. William F. English and Rev. Edmund A. Miller led a litany of commemoration, prayers for peace, and hymns of gratitude. “This is really a great hour in human history,” Rev. English declared. “We bow in all humility over the sense of responsibility which is ours to make the peace secure.”

The service culminated in a prayer that echoed the town’s collective sentiment: “Help us not to lose the peace, but grant that this may be the dawn of a new day in the life of God’s people on the face of the whole earth.”

Norwood’s V-J Day was not just a celebration—it was a catharsis. It marked the end of four years of rationing, of telegrams bearing terrible news, of sons and daughters scattered across the globe. It was a moment when the town exhaled, cried, danced, and prayed. It was a night when strangers became family, when the streets became sanctuaries, and when the future—uncertain but hopeful—began to take shape.

In the decades since, the memory of that night has lingered in the hearts of those who lived it. It was, as the Free Press declared, “the wildest celebration in Norwood’s history.” But it was also one of its most sacred.

V-J Day: The Wildest Celebration in Norwood History

🎉 Street-Level Revelry

• Crowds flooded Washington Street from Guild Square to Railroad Avenue.
• Sirens, fire bells, and car horns created a deafening chorus.
• Firecrackers exploded along the main stem.
• Strangers embraced, shook hands, and cheered.
• St. Catherine’s Church welcomed silent worshippers for thanksgiving prayers.

🚓 Civic Response

• Police Chief William H. Sullivan deployed every patrolman.
• Lt. Patrick Coyne patrolled in a cruiser.
• Fire Department responded to 30 false alarms overnight.
• No arrests or vandalism reported despite the exuberance.

💃 Block Dance & Parade

• Held on Central Street in front of the Post Office.
• Paul’s Orchestra played patriotic tunes.
• Pfc. Nicholas Kelley & Catherine Samm won the jitterbug contest.
• Sailors kissed girls on Cottage & Washington—“the girls were more than willing to oblige.”
• Dump trucks filled with children joined the parade.

Compiled by the Norwood Historical Society, with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini.