A campaign to feature Tommy figures in homes aross the UK in the run-up to VE Day has proved hugely popular and the hope is that many more families in lockdown will join the mass show of support.
Thousands of a special edition version of the figure of the soldier have been sold since the Tommy in the Window campaign was launched by Royal British Legion Industries just before Easter.
And their display in the front windows of homes across Britain - in time to mark the 75-year anniversary of Victory in Europe day on May 8 - will be all the more moving given that the perspex figures are made by veterans to support other veterans.
The 10ins-high figure, bearing the common wartime nickname for a British Army soldier, is part of an initiative aimed at marking VE Day - a day for both commemoration and celebration - during lockdown, which also includes free VE Day activity packs for grandparents and grandchildren; 1940s Lindy Hop dance lessons and an invitation to take part in a doorstep dance on the day.
With the nation's original big plans to mark the important anniversary now thwarted because of the coronavirus crisis, the focus is turning to online events and Newcastle City Council this week announced its own programme of virtual celebrations.
And RBL Industries also has been busy with plans to do its bit and its Tommy in the Window campaign has won the support of the former head of the Army, Lord Richard Dannatt, who said: "This is a good time to remember that the nation has been through difficult times before and has come through challenges by pulling together."
Set up in 1919 at the end of the First World War, the RBLI is a separate charity from the Royal British Legion but similarly works to support members and veterans of the British Armed Forces.
Its campaign urges everyone to mark 75 years since the end of the war in Europe by buying the commemorative edition of the Tommy figure which is on sale at the RBLI shop here.
The figure has a special VE Day engraving as well as a unique special-edition number on its base and it comes in a commemorative box with a certificate signed by the injured and disabled veterans working in the Kent-based social enterprise factory which made it.
It is also accompanied by a VE Day booklet and a window sticker and costs £30, with all money raised from its sales going to support veterans.
There are also more VE products, free downloads and information to be had here as well as online lessons in Lindy Hop - the dance craze which came to Britain during the war - to encourage people to take part in the May 8 VE Day doorstep dance.
To get people in the mood there are practise steps and a live-streamed VE Day singalong on its Facebook page here.
General Lord Dannatt said of the campaign: “The RBLI Tommy figure represents the price of victory and this special edition Tommy remembers many lives lost and many sacrifices that won peace for Europe in 1945.
"As the Tommies are made by veterans, they also represent our country’s support for veterans today.”
He said that covid-19 should not stop us commemorating the 75th anniversary of VE Day at home and said, although public mood is low, he said: "We owe it to ourselves as a nation to recognise those who gave their lives in the Second World War, and also those who endured so much at home, to win us our freedom."
He added: "I would hope that the country could draw a lot of strength from remembering the generations and all our relatives who pulled together at that time.
"So we want to see the special VE Day Tommy figures proudly displayed in windows up and down the country for May 8 when we all raise a toast to our veterans.”
