IT was the day that Britain needed. After six years of war, and the austerity that followed, the people were ready to rediscover national pride, march into a hopeful new era, and have a right old knees-up. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 50 years ago today, provided an opportunity to do all three.

Sadness at the death of George VI more than a year before had been replaced by eager anticipation as the great day approached. In York, there had been a last-minute rush for red, white and blue bunting, as people arranged street parties.

The day itself, June 2, 1953, was overcast and rainy. But showing typical British phlegm, no one took any notice.

Celebrations took all forms. Members of the York Harriers athletics club ran around the city walls bearing torches. Children took part in a fancy dress parade at Huntington. A variety show was staged at York Rugby League Club's Wigginton Road ground.

All babies born on the day were given a presentation spoon by the council. In the evening a grand Civic Coronation Ball was held at the Assembly Rooms, with supper and a dance until 3am. Johnny Sutton And The Modernaires provided alternative entertainment, with their Coronation Carnival Ball at the De Grey Rooms.

The London procession and ceremony were being televised live - TV cameras were allowed into Westminster Abbey for the first time. This prompted a rush to buy sets.

In York, family, friends and neighbours gathered around about 6,000 tellies to watch the pomp and glamour. It was Britain's first big television occasion.

But some were fortunate to be there - and not merely as part of the three million-strong crowd lining the London route, but as participants.

Two such men contacted Yesterday Once More with their memories. The first was Malton man Jim Bird, who played in a military band on the big day.

In 1953 he was a 23-year-old tuba player with the Bomber Command Band, based at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, the base made famous as being the home of the dambusters squadron.

Because he was completing an engineering apprenticeship, he was not called up for National Service until he was 21, rather than 18.

He played in the camp band during basic training before completing a successful audition to fill a vacancy in the Bomber Command line-up.

Being musical in the military was a definite advantage. "If you played in the officers' mess, the whole of the rest of the day was your own," Mr Bird recalled.

A few days before the coronation, he and the rest of the band travelled down to RAF Wittering, near Peterborough, for final rehearsals. There was also a contingent from the base who were lining the route.

The night before, they stayed under canvas in Hyde Park. "It had the aura of a band contest, because everyone was rehearsing," he recalled. Their band leader, Jonny Martindale, eventually became the RAF's director of music.

"On the morning of the coronation, the route-lining people of Bomber Command marched into Oxford Street," said Mr Bird.

"When they were in position, we entertained the crowds until the main coronation parade came through. When the Queen passed by, we played God Save The Queen."

It was wet, very wet: "The rain just kept coming and coming."

Nevertheless, "the atmosphere was brilliant. The crowds were singing along. I remember the Queen of Tonga coming by. She was the only one in an open carriage. She got a great reception."

It was great to be a part of such an historic day, Mr Bird said. Born in South Wales, he and his family had moved to Malton in 1937, and he spent his older childhood in the town.

After National Service, his engineering career took him around the country before he returned to Malton for family reasons in 1973.

Jim Slade, of Heworth, York, was also part of the Armed Forces tribute to the Queen on coronation day.

At the time, he was a squadron quartermaster sergeant in the territorial regiment the Yorkshire Hussars.

Mr Slade had had a tough war. When the conflict began, he was an 18-year-old former Manor School pupil.

The following year he was sent to France. On May 24, 1940, he was captured by the Germans. He would not be liberated until April 24, 1945.

After being marched across France, through Luxembourg and into Germany, he was eventually held in a Polish camp. Later, he worked the land.

"It wasn't too bad on the farms," he said. "Before then, it was very rough."

So Britain was ready for some good news in 1953, he said.

"It was sad when the king died, but the coronation gave everyone an uplift. It was a new beginning. It was just at the advent of TV and people were crowded around the TV sets to see what went on."

Mr Slade was far closer to the action. A fortnight before the big day, he and four others from his squadron were told they were representing the Yorkshire Hussars in the procession.

The regiment's commanding officers inspected the marchers, and other soldiers who were lining the route, at their York base behind Lumley Barracks in Burton Stone Lane before they left for London.

Mr Slade, then 32, kissed his wife Iris and their one-year-old daughter goodbye before departing for his billet in Earls Court.

"On the day itself, it was raining like nobody's business," he said. "We were allowed to set off marching with groundsheets over our uniforms."

The Yorkshire Hussars were the county's oldest territorial regiment, and were ranked third in seniority in the country.

That meant Mr Slade and his comrades were third in the territorial procession, behind the Wiltshire and Warwickshire Yeomanries. He didn't see the Queen's carriage, as she was further ahead.

But the crowd never stopped cheering and the day was a wonderful antidote to all that had gone before.

"It was a great honour to be there," he said.

Updated: 10:38 Monday, June 02, 2003