Today is the 70th anniversary of VE Day, the public holiday that was celebrated in Britain on 8th May 1945 marking the end of WWII. As a sign of respect a two minute silence was observed at my place of work.
Huge crowds gathered in London on the following day. At 3pm Churchill made a radio broadcast. In Trafalgar Square, as his voice was relayed over loudspeakers, an eye-witness noted that ‘there was an extraordinary hush over the assembled multitude’.
King George VI and the Queen appeared eight times on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, while the two Princesses – Margaret and Elizabeth (now Her Majesty the Queen) – mingled with the crowds. Churchill later gave an impromptu speech on the balcony of the Ministry of Health, telling the crowds, ‘This is your victory!‘
Hello Cherie,
Now I wonder how many of your followers and commentors were around on that joyful day? I’ll be first to say that I was, but a wee bit too young to partake of the alcohol that somehow managed to suddenly be magic’d out of thin air. What I do remember though, was my father carrying me up the road in the evening to a bonfire party. There was noise, laughter and singing – not that I took all this in mind you – but, when the fireworks started, I was frightened. I’m told they were not proper fireworks but some explosive things set off by the Home Guard. (Dad’s Army). For years after, as a child I would hide indoors on bonfire night. Upset me you see. Can’t say I’m all that keen on them now. ;-(
VE. Victory in Europe.
What a pity that we are now subservient to the EU and not living in a free democracy that our brave men and women fought for.
Cheers Bernard
I used to be the same about fireworks and they were always around on my Birthday time. They used to frighten me too especially with all the adverts heralding how dangerous they were. I wouldn’t even hold a sparkler for fear of being burnt. One of my Dad’s bosses cured me of that.
For some reason he was quite taken with me (I was a tiny tot at the time) and he carried me whilst during the annual office bonfire. I seem to remember he was carrying me because the ground was quite muddy. He persuaded me to hold a sparkler and I remember being quite surprised that they were fun and not as scary as I thought.
Now I do like fireworks but I am still wary of them…
I wonder what those who gave so much would think about our country today…
I was around on that first VE day. I was only six months old, mind you, and did not take very much notice. However I have it from impeccable authority (my Mum and Dad) that it was I – an entirely new and devastating secret weapon was what the Germans thought, apparantly – that brought the war to an end. My projectile fluids, you see. No-one could predict which end it would come from next.
HaHaHa
Ah yes, Cherie, hoped you’d do something like this.
There were lots of VE-related events in London!
I went to one of them in my local area.
The theme was very 1940s
I hope you enjoyed it