HISTORICAL accounts datelined May 9, 1945 and headlined 'Front-line county celebrates freedom at last’ came straight to the point: The Second World War is over. The Third Reich, which Hitler said would last 1,000 years, is dead.

Hitler is also dead, having shot himself just 36 hours after marrying his mistress, Eva Braun.

Today, Kent celebrated the first day of peace since September 2, 1939.

At Ramsgate the deckchairs on the sands were fully occupied.

At Folkestone, airmen from Hawkinge and Lympne appeared in the streets in their pyjamas.

At Dover, a few people climbed Shakespeare Cliff and looked across the Channel to Cap Griz Nez. No longer could they see the great guns of Calais or the intensive German activity.

There were no fighters or bombers in the sky, no high explosives, incendiaries or parachute mines.

To mark the occasion, all schools in Kent will be closed for two days. Pubs have been granted an extension of licensing hours.

On Sunday, thanksgiving services will be held in every church in the county.

The civilian casualty list shows that more than 1,608 people in Kent were killed and nearly 2,500 seriously injured. Of these, many more may die of their wounds.

The Home Guard and Fire Watching Parties stood down in December. National Fire Service stations have now been amalgamated and the Air Raid Precaution rescue teams disbanded. Today (Wednesday) Kent units of the Civil Defence will stand down.

On Sunday there will be big parades, the majority against the background of blitzed buildings and bombsites.

Already there are Union Jacks everywhere and large bonfires are appearing with Hitler as the effigy. No one deserves this moment more than the people of Dover where 199 people died and nearly 4,000 homes were severely, if not completely, wrecked. Yesterday, Dover harbour greeted Churchill’s official declaration by sounding the sirens. Ships were dressed for the occasion. On Sunday, Dover castle will be floodlit as a final symbol of the defiance of Hellfire Corner. The war is over.

One man who has not been able to join in the celebrations but did more than most to bring about peace, is Admiral Sir Bernard Ramsay, in command at Dover from 1939 until 1942. Sir Bernard was killed in an air crash near Paris in January.