VE day

[Gob]

The UK is to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, with the Royal Family leading tributes as the country remains in lockdown due to the coronavirus.




The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will lead a two-minute silence at 11:00 BST to honour servicemen and women during World War Two, and the Queen will address the nation later.

The PM thanked the VE Day generation, saying "our gratitude will be eternal".

Events are taking place all day, but public gatherings have been cancelled.

Victory in Europe Day marks the day in 1945 when then-prime minister Sir Winston Churchill announced that the war in Europe had come to an end, after Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered.

This year's celebration will be limited as the lockdown prompted by the coronavirus pandemic means there will be no large scale street parties or parades.

However, the BBC is airing a series of special programmes to mark the milestone occasion, including a re-broadcast of parts of Sir Winston's speech.

A pre-recorded message from the Queen will be broadcast on BBC One at 21:00 - the exact moment her father, King George VI, gave a radio address 75 years ago.

In a message, Prime Minister Mr Johnson referred to the virus outbreak, saying it "demands the same spirit of national endeavour" as shown during wartime.

"We can't hold the parades and street celebrations we enjoyed in the past, but all of us who were born since 1945 are acutely conscious that we owe everything we most value to the generation who won the Second World War," he said.

Mr Johnson - who is due to have a video call with a veteran later - said: "We survived and eventually triumphed thanks to the heroism of countless ordinary people, who may be elderly today, but who once carried the fate of freedom itself on their shoulders.

"Across the world, our soldiers, sailors and airmen fought the Nazis with courage, ingenuity and stubborn endurance.

"On the home front, women defended our cities against air raids, worked the factories, ran the hospitals and broke enemy codes. People of every age, race and background came together in one supreme effort."

Mr Johnson also wrote to surviving veterans and told them, despite the ongoing lockdown due to coronavirus, their efforts to topple a "ruthless enemy" would "always be remembered".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52577473

[ex-khobar Andy]

That generation never talked about it much. Even my father who was in the Navy and did convoy escorts, did not tell me until very late in life, about D-Day and his role in it. One of my profs at university was at Bletchley Park, the Enigma code-breaking unit. I never knew that until he wrote a book about it many years later. It was still, when I knew him in the sixties, covered by the Official Secrets Act.

[MGMcAnick]

Shortly before my biological father died in 1982 I asked him what he did during the war. He said "I flew freight". I know that was correct during his time serving on the Berlin airlift in 1948-49, but I still wonder about the war years. A few years ago I heard a TV interview of a B-17 pilot. He said "We flew freight. Of course that freight was 500 pound bombs". Hmmmm. Questions remain.
My mother worked in an office of the British war department in Washington DC during the war. She was a "clerk" who was not a good typist. Both were from southern Illinois. They lived in DC for a year after the airlift before moving to California. He became an airline pilot. She became my mother.

[Gob]

And the highest rated comment in the Grauniad on VE day...

"JPRO666h ago
In my opinion VE Day should be remembered with a two minutes silence and that’s it. All flag waving should be banned, it was the scourge of nationalism that caused the damned thing. My grandfather fought in Burma and saw some horrendous things no man should ever see. What happened in Europe as throughout the world was appalling beyond anything we can really conceive and we should not allow it to be hi jacked by the Union Jack waving, Rule Britannia, aren’t we Great mob. War is a terrible thing and should be remembered as such."

Then they have the gall to wonder why Labour lose elections.

[Lord Jim]

Not a whole lot of social distancing going on that day:



Times Square:

[MajGenl.Meade]

And the highest rated comment in the Grauniad on VE day...

"JPRO666h ago
In my opinion VE Day should be remembered with a two minutes silence and that’s it. All flag waving should be banned, it was the scourge of nationalism that caused the damned thing. My grandfather fought in Burma and saw some horrendous things no man should ever see. What happened in Europe as throughout the world was appalling beyond anything we can really conceive and we should not allow it to be hi jacked by the Union Jack waving, Rule Britannia, aren’t we Great mob. War is a terrible thing and should be remembered as such."

Then they have the gall to wonder why Labour lose elections.

Yeah, he (I assume) hasn't really got the idea that the euphoria was over the end of a war (ee lad, ahm bein' all Eurocentric, like. Bloody Japs still needed incentive)

[RayThom]

Gob, can I assume the future queen is in the photo you posted above? If so, which one is she?

My biological father served in the BRN for eight years -- 1938 to 1946.

Until he was into his retirement years he talked very little about his WWWII days. I know he was a PO, and on two torpedoed ships, but knowing the man as well as I did I hesitated to believe him until one of my English cousin confirmed the stories. He loved to hear himself talk.

After he died we had the BRN insignia etched on his ash can where it sits to this day in my brother's hall closet. Gone and almost forgotten... until I grab my coat after a visit.

[ex-khobar Andy]

Gob, can I assume the future queen is in the photo you posted above? If so, which one is she?

She and her sister apparently slipped out of the palace with a couple of officers to chaperone them. AFAIK they were not in a vehicle and I don't think that there are any extant photos showing them in the crowd - or if there are I haven't seen them. I wouldn't be surprised if some pix show up when someone is going through an old album and spots a serendipitous snap.

[Gob]

Gob, can I assume the future queen is in the photo you posted above? If so, which one is she?

I don't think she is mate, just some services girls.

[Gob]

[Lord Jim]

I was just getting ready to post this...

Once again, Her Majesty is pitch perfect...

(And what a contrast to our own Head Of State..)

[BoSoxGal]

She is a pretty classy lady. Even though she’s no better than you or me, just richer.