VE Day Celebrations

DH and I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, we had a cheeky mid week glass of wine to toast the courageous people of eighty years ago

This made me smile, GrannyGravy
DD and I were chatting on messenger during the concert and I said I was feeling so emotional I was tempted to have my Friday night G&T a day early.

Her reply was, ‘Go on Mum. It’s what they would have wanted.’ 😂😂

We watched most of the concert and I was humbled too, at the thought that Britain, little despised Britain, Won that terrible war against all odds (albeit with a little help from our friends towards the end.

And then I wondered how the Britain of 1945 came to this in 2025.
We’re proud of our war heroes, would they be proud of us?

I enjoyed the concert but I wish they had Timothy Spall again as on Monday to read the Churchill part. The man last night didn't sound right.

Zoe Ball looked lovely in her red dress.

I spent the afternoon/evening sorting out all the stuff I have inherited over the years that relates to the second world war.

I didn’t realise that I had so much. From photos - of course- to newspaper, letters, military stuff, ration books, mementoes absolutely masses of it.

It needs all sorting and annotating, with the possibility (probably remote) that the GC etc will value it as part of their family history.

I’ve decided to cover the period 1900-1945, as I also have stuff from the First World War.

That should keep me going😊

DH and I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, we had a cheeky mid week glass of wine to toast the courageous people of eighty years ago 🥂

I admit to having a tear or three.

Top Loader - Dancing in the moonlight is one of my favourite songs, in fact the AC will probably play it at my funeral.

The concert was good, despite some of the poor music and performers in the middle.
I enjoyed how old reels and photos were blended into the show. Including letters from veterans was so moving too. My favourites were the 3 soap ladies in green, and the singer at the end who kept Vera Lynn's, "We'll meet again" very simple and full of meaning.

I enjoyed the concert too.....hit just the right note.

I was at the silence at noon outside our local town hall and was amazed how many people walked past asking what was going on!

I loved the concert too. I'm in tears! I'm thinking of all my Aunts and Uncles now long gone, one who took part in D Day, and my Grandpa, long gone, who was at El Alamein. I have to thank them all for so much. xx

I think the concert has been really good.

Yes, my father (RN) didn’t come home until the war with Japan was over. He was involved in the last action against the Japanese at IIRC Singapore, but never really spoke about his experiences. I know however that his ship took some of the skeletal prisoners out of Changi jail.
Like a pp, it was many years before anything Japanese was allowed in our house.

He also spent 2 years in the Battle of the Atlantic, so was very lucky to survive.
He served for a while on the same ship as Nicholas Montserrat (The Cruel Sea) and said he was ‘a shit’!!
But he would never watch that film. He was a very cheerful, jolly type, though. ❤️

Whitewavemark2

That hardly constitutes the same as total war does it?

I did not say it was the same as total war. I was talking about carnage and devastation, deaths on an industrial scale, not being unique actions of right wing regimes.

Elegran

BlueBelle

Allira thanks for your post which was unnecessary as I had already said I didn’t watch

My dad fought at one point with the ghurkas who he had so much time and respect for, my West Indian father in law fought with us , one grandad was in Africa and Italy the other was 16 and riding a motorbike to the front line as a messenger boy
None are short of courage

However I personally think we should be linking with other countries on both sides for a celebration of PEACE
That would be a huge move in the right direction and that I would love to watch

VE day and VJ day ARE a celebration of peace - the peace that came after years of war and made everyone joyful.

No-one hates war more than those who have been through it, whether they are at the front, losing comrades and expecting at any minute to lose their own lives, or defending their country against invaders - and losing family and friends while doing so - or at home waiting for news of sons, husbands, fathers and friends who are in the thick of it. That is why they remember the day it all stopped, and hope that their memories will be heeded and not repeated.

Perhaps those who condemn these commemorations are not familiar with the Exhortation remembering the fallen, why they fought and the fervent prayers for peace.

Of course, they fought for the freedom for people to be able to express such views which would not have been possible without their sacrifices.

The purges had the same effect on the people who were murdered, and the devastation they spread on the countries where they were enacted.

I saw the comment about those who veer towards the far right right and found it immensely patronising, as is the follow-up ...'but you do understand....?'
Yes thank you I understand perfectly, and if I have a label I am right -wing, but do not ally myself with Nazis and fascists any more than others who regard themselves as being on the right of politics.
Tired of Starmer (Starmski as I heard him called yesterday), Emily Thornberry, Rayner et al repeating as regularly as possible, far right, hard right extreme right etc. Say it often enough and people will unconsciously accept it. They think.

VE day and VJ day ARE a celebration of peace - the peace that came after years of war and made everyone joyful.

Absolutely, Elegran.

BlueBelle

Allira thanks for your post which was unnecessary as I had already said I didn’t watch

My dad fought at one point with the ghurkas who he had so much time and respect for, my West Indian father in law fought with us , one grandad was in Africa and Italy the other was 16 and riding a motorbike to the front line as a messenger boy
None are short of courage

However I personally think we should be linking with other countries on both sides for a celebration of PEACE
That would be a huge move in the right direction and that I would love to watch

VE day and VJ day ARE a celebration of peace - the peace that came after years of war and made everyone joyful.

No-one hates war more than those who have been through it, whether they are at the front, losing comrades and expecting at any minute to lose their own lives, or defending their country against invaders - and losing family and friends while doing so - or at home waiting for news of sons, husbands, fathers and friends who are in the thick of it. That is why they remember the day it all stopped, and hope that their memories will be heeded and not repeated.

That hardly constitutes the same as total war does it?

Chairman's Mao's purges in Communist China.

Stalin's purges in Communist Russia.

Benid0rmbelle

Cossy

Yes, DH and I are watching, it’s very humbling and I truly hope it’ll strike those who veer towards the far right!

Amazing woman talking at the moment who is 101! Very wise words!

And far left

But you do understand that it was the far right in Europe that caused so much carnage?

I’d be interested in an example of the far left (not that I’m a supporter - I just prefer accuracy) causing so much devastation.

Cadenza123

My mum used to get a bit cross over VE day. She'd say something like people thought that the war was over when it was still very much active elsewhere.
Her brother was sent to Burma after VE day and was killed there the following December fighting the Japanese.

I agree, let's hope there is as much recognition for V.J day.
Two of my friends had brothers who were Japanese P.O.W while everyone was celebrating in Europe.

Cossy

Yes, DH and I are watching, it’s very humbling and I truly hope it’ll strike those who veer towards the far right!

Amazing woman talking at the moment who is 101! Very wise words!

And far left

My mum used to get a bit cross over VE day. She'd say something like people thought that the war was over when it was still very much active elsewhere.
Her brother was sent to Burma after VE day and was killed there the following December fighting the Japanese.

Must say I have been profoundly irritated by posts on MN by people saying they dislike the celebrations because they are ‘glorifying’ war. Presumably they are too stupid and ignorant to understand that far from ‘glorifying’, VE Day is celebrating the end of so much death and suffering because of a war nobody wanted - goodness knows Chamberlain bent over backwards to try to avoid it. In those days many were still mindful of the appalling carnage of WW1.

I hope some thought is given to Poland.
It wasn't a day of freedom there was it...

My uncle was rescued from the POW camp just outside of Nagasaki. He saw the bomb go up.

The Americans rescued the British soldiers and they were sailed across the pacific and the trained across Canada - all the while being cared for and returning to good health.

I have a number of letters written between my aunt and uncle. One letter she got from him contained a tiny slip of his photo he had hidden away under the sticky enclosure.

On his return to his Cornish village he was presented with a pair of silver candlesticks by the whole village who had collected for them for his bravery.

His brother, who was much older than him had died in Passchendale in WW1. That family sacrificed a huge amount.