VE Day “celebrations”

Personally I think that "celebrate VE day" has been taken up in such a popular manner at the moment is because we are all missing social contact. I live in a small cul de sac of only 20 houses. They have organised a socially distanced street party with bunting hung across the street. One of the neighbours has made red, white & blue streamers to attach to every front door. That's the only thing to have come out of this situation, I really believe it has brought communities closer together. I'll be out there tomorrow for a bit

vegansrock Yes - afraid I feel fairly unenthusiastic about it all, too. Add to that, the European Union came about to prevent such a war happening again. Celebrating VE Day when we’re abandoning a peaceful ideal seems hypocritical at best - especially for Leave voters who will probably be making the loudest noise.

And here Harrigan, no flag waving just quiet remembrance.

Same here Harrigan

My street has regular parties and socially distancing concerts. We have a concert tomorrow. I shall watch and have a drink - I'm not a complete old misery - I will enjoy it, but I'm not flag waving or dressing up and as far as I know no-one else is either. We have a charity bingo game as well, hosted by our resident comedian, I will probably donate a prize and may even join in - you never know. But its not because of VE day. My attitude may be because my Dad always maintained it wasn't the end of the war, as he was still risking getting blown up every day on a minesweeper, and another relative was still in a Japanese POW camp.

A dd told me today that her road - it’s very community minded - is holding a ‘distancing’ street party -dd and SiL will be barbecuing in their drive and little Gdcs have been making bunting with their dad.
Quite a few of the residents have young children, so it won’t be an ‘oldies’ thing.
Dd said she’ll be thinking of my parents - one of whom was on her own with a baby during the London Blitz, the other of whom was extremely lucky to survive 2 RN years of the Battle of the Atlantic.

You do whatever you think is the most appropriate tomorrow vegansrock. One of the most significant things that our parents fought for in WW1 and WW2 was to have the freedom to live our lives as freely as possible. So when I'm standing in silence, alongside my neighbours, I'll be giving thanks to my Dad who spent the war fighting in the Middle East. And then I'll raise a glass to him and everyone else. And you can spend the day exactly as you see fit. Because you have the freedom to do so.

You'll have to excuse me now... I've got to put my flags up for tomorrow and dig out the picnic table.....

vegansrock As far as I am aware it is not compulsory to "dress up and have a picnic". Some choose to, some choose not. We will all have people who served.

My father was in the D-Day landings, never spoke of what he saw and experienced until the last years of his life - one thing he always did was remember those of his comrades who didn't make it back whilst also celebrating that an evil regime had been defeated.

In our road, one house has a huge flag on the front and bunting around all windows; two others have smaller displays of flags and bunting. I’ve sellotaped our 2 small flags that we take to the Proms onto a window. That is it for our road. A few other local roads have bunting and flags that we’ve seen on our daily walks.

Remembering and giving gratitude are not the same as having a singalong or a boozy party. I certainly remember and give gratitude but I don’t have to dress up or have a picnic to do it.

Our small neighbourhood community is doing very similar to yours Sadgrandma and we're all very much looking forward to it. Many of us have put small streams of flags from houses and fences and at 11 o'clock in the morning, we'll all be outside for the silent tribute, followed by a picnic at 2 o'clock. A little ray of something to look forward to, especially for those of us who haven't left their houses for weeks and it will be a chance to wave and smile at our neighbours and confirm that were still in the land of the living. Looking forward to it.

Vegansrock, firstly they shouldn't be meeting in groups to celebrate in any case. Secondly I'm like you, my Dad was in the Navy fighting in the Far East, so for him the end of WW2 was in early August. Not that he's here now to mourn his lost comrades or celebrate that the fighting was over. He was then in the Chindits, minesweeping in Indian Ocean so it must've felt that his war lasted much longer after the one in Europe, which he had previously fought in too. Aren't we lucky our Dads came through it all? We're lucky to have had them. So tomorrow I'll think of my mum's family, they all did war work despite her living at home with her parents, Mum in the Air Ministry, Granny in a bomb factory and Granddad was an Air Raid Warden, 75 years ago tomorrow must've been a wonderful day for them and for my uncle who was in RAF and aunt who was in WRNS, definitely a day to remember for their sakes as none of them is still here to celebrate the memory. I'll do it quietly though, no need for lots of fuss.

GrandmaFrench yes, at least there are those on the Continent who still give thanks for their salvation and appear to be grateful. Their situation in Occupied Europe was worse still than ours here.

Perhaps those who dislike the idea of us remembering and expressing gratitude to all those men and women who liberated us would have preferred a different outcome.

aonk yes, there are many still alive who lived through it and many still with us who were old enough to serve.

To dismiss them, their memories and call it glorification and braying nationalism is a dismissal of all the terrible times which they lived through.

Please yourself vegansrock

However, I shall be thinking of my FIL whom I never met because he died so that people like you could express your views whether or not he may have agreed with them.

And we shall have a drink to honour his memory and all those who died, their families and those who fought and returned.

No glorification here, just memories and a heartfelt thank you.

Barrygirl it is not a celebration or glorification of war.

It is a celebration of Peace

I do not understand the mindset of some.

I live in a small close of 8 houses and for a few weeks now we have been going out on Saturday afternoons at 3PM and sitting in our own drives with a glass of wine/beer or cup of tea. It has been lovely to be able to have a chat, albeit, having to speak louder, and we've got to know the younger/ newer neighbours much better. This week, however we've changed it to VE day and will be taking our own afternoon teas out and wearing hats (ladies). I have also organised a quiz. However, will certainly be remembering my Dad who fought in the war (luckily he came home) as well as all the others who didn't and everyone who suffered bombings, loss of loved ones and being unable to see their families or hug their grandchildren. Not so different from today was it if you substitute a virus for bombings? But they kept calm and carried on and so should we. A little get together ( at a distance) will help to lift spirits for a short time.

I was still on duty in the WAAF. My husband who was still suffering stress after being wounded from having gone over to Normandy on DDay plus 4 with the Guards Armoured division had just received a posting to Palestine where he said it was worse because the Brits were because being shot at by both the Jews and Arabs. Many of my friends still had husbands and boy friends in the Far East and didn’t know whether they were alive or dead.

I do understand the point being made about marking the 100 year anniversary and very much hope that people will do this. 75 years is so very important as there are still people alive who lived through the War and who can share their memories as well as those like myself who grew up afterwards and witnessed at first hand the aftermath of all that suffering. This won’t be the case in 100 years time.

Same as us tomorrow will be a quiet moment of reflection, with over 30,000 deaths it’s not a time to celebrate

Be nice to celebrate with cake - if I could get flour!

Sorry but I do not 'get' this celebration at all. Britain did not free Europe - the allies did (of which GB played an important role). Thousands lost their lives in every European country … but those young me from Italy, Germany, France and the UK did not start the war - politicians did.
Until we move away from this jingoistic presentation of war as glorious, which it is not, I for one will never, ever celebrate.

My street are doing it. At a distance from each other, in our own front gardens, each supplying their own food and drink. I'm just off to M&S to buy some tasty treats. Can't wait for some distraction from COVID. And celebrating Victory in Europe is a good a reason as any to remember the sacrifices many made for our freedom. We are very lucky that lockdown is just that, unlike what they had to endure.

The day for celebrating was in 1945
Surely tomorrow should be a day for remembrance

I’m not deliberately missing the point- I get remembering 100 years as a milestone. But 75 years in neither here not there any more than 70 or 80 or whatever. I get being grateful for peace. I’m all for that. But May 8 wasn’t the end of the war for millions. I bet most people drinking and waving flags won’t know the words to any of the songs and won’t have a clue about the reality of the war either. It’s not all about rule Brittania. I feel sick that some people think people died so they can have a booze up anytime.