That’s it for our VE Day 75 liveblog today, thanks so much to all the readers who sent in their pictures and stories, I’ve found many of them incredibly moving and uplifting - and as always, thanks for reading along.
Summary - Queen honours wartime generation as she praises Covid-19 response
The Queen has delivered a poignant message to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day - praising the nation’s response to the coronavirus outbreak that has filled empty streets with “love and care”.
As she remembered Britain’s Second World War sacrifices and the “joyous celebrations” that followed the end of fighting in Europe, the head of state paid tribute to the positive qualities of today’s generation.
The tireless efforts of NHS staff, care and key workers, and communities helping the vulnerable, reflected a nation “those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognise and admire,” said the Queen.
And she highlighted the message of VE (Victory in Europe) Day that resonates with the country’s plight today - “Never give up, never despair”.
Her televised address came at the end of national celebrations, curtailed due to the lockdown, marking 75 years to the day Britain and its Allies formally accepted Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender, following almost six years of brutal warfare.
Speaking from Windsor Castle’s white drawing room, the Queen said in her pre-recorded message:
The wartime generation knew that the best way to honour those who did not come back from the war, was to ensure that it didn’t happen again.
The greatest tribute to their sacrifice is that countries who were once sworn enemies are now friends, working side by side for the peace, health and prosperity of us all.
Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish. Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps.
But our streets are not empty; they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other.
And when I look at our country today, and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, I say with pride that we are still a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognise and admire.
After the broadcast, the nation was invited to take part in sing-a-long of Dame Vera Lynn’s wartime anthem We’ll Meet Again, during the BBC’s VE Day 75 show.
The Queen’s words were her second televised address during the coronavirus outbreak and followed her speech to the country on 5 April, when she delivered a message of hope, saying if we remained resolute in the face of the outbreak “we will overcome it”.
And she echoed Dame Vera’s words by telling those in lockdown “we will meet again”.
The Queen’s father King George VI was an important part of her speech which was broadcast at 9pm, the exact time of his radio address to the nation on 8 May 1945.
Updated
At the conclusion of the Queen’s address, a recording shows people across the country - including NHS staff and other key workers, and celebrities - singing the classic wartime song, We’ll Meet Again, made famous by Dame Vera Lynn.
She concludes her address with a reference to the coronavirus crisis, which has led to social distanced versions of celebrations across the country.
Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish.
Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps.
But our streets are not empty; they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other.
And when I look at our country today, and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, I say with pride that we are still a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognise and admire.
I send my warmest good wishes to you all.
She goes on to note that while VE Day prompted celebrations across the continent, it did not mark the end of the war.
I vividly remember the jubilant scenes my sister and I witnessed with our parents and Winston Churchill from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
The sense of joy in the crowds who gathered outside and across the country was profound, though while we celebrated the victory in Europe, we knew there would be further sacrifice.
It was not until August that fighting in the Far East ceased and the war finally ended.
Many people laid down their lives in that terrible conflict.
They fought so we could live in peace, at home and abroad.
Queen Elizabeth starts her speech reflecting back on World War Two.
I speak to you today at the same hour as my father did, exactly 75 years ago.
His message then was a salute to the men and women at home and abroad who had sacrificed so much in pursuit of what he rightly called a ‘great deliverance’.
The war had been a total war; it had affected everyone, and no one was immune from its impact.
Whether it be the men and women called up to serve; families separated from each other; or people asked to take up new roles and skills to support the war effort, all had a part to play.
At the start, the outlook seemed bleak, the end distant, the outcome uncertain.
But we kept faith that the cause was right - and this belief, as my father noted in his broadcast, carried us through.
Never give up, never despair - that was the message of VE Day.
The address starts with a recording of that original 1945 broadcast.
After we hear Big Ben chime, an announcer says: “This is London. His Majesty King George VI”.
We then hear the late King say:
Let us remember the men of all the services and the women in all of the services who have laid down their lives.
We have come to the end of our tribulation and they are not with us at the moment of our rejoicing.
Queen addresses nation on VE Day anniversary
The Queen is addressing the nation at 9pm to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
BBC One will broadcast a pre-recorded address by the Queen at the exact moment her father, King George VI, gave a radio address on 8 May 1945.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were left tickled pink by stories of Churchill’s “secret” birthday message to his son when they chatted to Second World War veterans about their VE Day memories.
Champagne was flowing when William and Kate made a video call on Wednesday to residents of an East Sussex care home to listen to them reminisce about the day the war ended in Europe on 8 May 1945.
William praised the efforts of the wartime generation, and told them: “Because we can’t be together, everyone’s still thinking of you all today, and are very proud of everything you’ve all achieved.”
Kate revealed Prince George and Princess Charlotte have been asked by their teachers to learn Dame Vera Lynn’s famous wartime anthem.
She said: “The school has set all the children a challenge and they’re currently trying to learn the lyrics to the song We’ll Meet Again... so it’s been really lovely having that playing every day.”
The residents had started their VE Day celebrations early, and when the royal couple asked what they would do when the Covid-19 outbreak was over, the sprightly group said they would hold VC Day - “Victory over Coronavirus”.
With a glass of bubbly nearby, Charles Ward, the oldest resident at Mais House, a Royal British Legion care home in Bexhill-on-Sea, joked about how he served tots of rum to fellow servicemen on VE Day.
“We were in Greece at the time, and I had to go round early in the morning with rum for all the men,” he said with a laugh.
William replied: “I bet you were the hero of the time there Charles, delivering rum out to everybody.”
Ward, aged 101, had a varied military career during the war and, after first being called up into the London Irish Rifles, he later served in North Africa before joining the Special Operations Executive to encrypt, or cipher, messages from British agents parachuted into France and Italy.
The veteran, from South Kirkby in Yorkshire, told the Cambridges about working on “secret” messages from wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill.
The duke said Valerie Glassborow, Kate’s paternal grandmother, was a civilian member of staff at the wartime code-breaking centre Bletchley Park, where her twin sister Mary was also employed.
The duchess, who was just one of a number of royals who have chatted to veterans this week, said: “It’s so sad that she’s not here today, as I would love to speak to her more about it.”
Ward later described the correspondence he received from the wartime leader, saying:
The message came from Churchill, I had to decipher it, re-encipher it and send it to his son in Yugoslavia to say, ‘Happy Birthday’.
And then there was another one from the son to Churchill himself to say congratulations on your speech in Parliament.
When I told William and Kate that story, they giggled.
Mais House went into lockdown before the Government issued social distancing rulings, has remained virus free and has been receiving supplies of personal protection equipment for staff, said Sue Barnes, the registered home manager.
Every year, Croydon Commitment runs a tea party for veterans to celebrate their service to our armed forces.
This year, volunteers, alongside members of the army, have packed 100 bags full of treats including wine and chocolate and are delivering to veterans across the whole borough of Croydon.
Here is another lovely contribution from a Guardian reader.
Vicki Nightingale sent in this photograph of her grandparents, the second world war veteran Cyril Gillard, 94, and his wife, Betsy, 92, celebrating VE Day with a special tea at their home in Ellesmere Port in Cheshire.
She also sent this account of Cyril’s experiences in the war.
On VE Day 1945 Cyril was in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on board the HMS Tartar as they were still involved in the war in the Far East.
They celebrated onboard the ship by ‘splicing the mainbrace’ – an order given for the crew to have an alcoholic drink – but unfortunately, due to Cyril’s age at the time, he was unable to have a tot of rum.
During the war he served on board the HMS Tartar, a Tribal-class destroyer which was one of eight Royal Navy ships engaged in heavy combat trying to keep the English Channel free of enemy crafts during D-Day.
In 2017 he was honoured by the French government, receiving the highest French order of military merit, the Legion D’Honneur, for his role in the D-Day landings.
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Thousands have watched an online performance of Katherine Jenkins singing in front of an empty Royal Albert Hall as she marked the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
The mezzo-soprano singer, 39, performed wartime favourites in the concert, which was streamed on YouTube and has now been watched by more than 13,000 people.
Her performance also featured a virtual duet with the Forces’ Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn, who entertained troops during the second world war.
Jenkins sang Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again alongside archive footage and audio from one of her wartime performances.
During the show, Jenkins said:
On this anniversary, we are here to appreciate those who gave so much so that we could live our lives in peace and freedom.
Today, the Royal Albert Hall stands empty, just as it did during the Blitz, without its true life force – the audiences who fill it with energy night after night.
But the doors will open again, as they did following the last world war, and the music will play on.
Before her performance began, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, delivered a message to mark the anniversary.
“Just as we united to achieve victory back then, I am confident that together we will overcome adversity again,” he said.
Jenkins said the event left her “speechless” and was “one of the most incredible experiences of my career”.
She added: “I have sound-checked here many times before for my own concerts so thought I’d know how it might feel today, but it really was something special.”
The concert was in support of the Royal Albert Hall’s fundraising appeal and armed forces charity SSAFA’s emergency response fund.
Updated
Terry Clark, a Battle of Britain veteran, died yesterday aged 101, just hours before the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
Clark died on Thursday evening in a care home from natural causes, leaving one surviving member of “The Few” who took to the skies in the summer of 1940.
Clark served as a radar operator on Beaufighters during the second world war and was one of two remaining air crew, known as The Few, who took to the skies to defend the UK against attacks from the Luftwaffe, Nazi Germany’s air force, in the Battle of Britain.
The death of Clark, who had celebrated his 101st birthday earlier this year, leaves John “Paddy” Hemingway as the last surviving member.
The RAF Benevolent Fund controller, Air Vice-Marshal Chris Elliot, said:
Our condolences go to Terry’s family and friends at this sad time.
This news is especially poignant as we remember the bravery and sacrifice of all those who fought for us today, the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
Terry belonged to a generation of servicemen and women who answered their country’s call without question.
We owe a debt of gratitude to every one of them and their legacy must be to remember their service.
John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway is now the last surviving member of The Few and in September we will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the battle.
The RAF Benevolent Fund will be paying tribute to those pilots and air crew who ‘gave so much to so many’.
We honour their memory by supporting the second world war and National Service veterans who need our help, before it is too late.
Updated
Trumpeters and buglers up and down the country played The Last Post to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
The piece is often played at military memorials, and was taken up by dozens of musicians across the UK to mark the day that commemorates the end of the second world war in Europe.
Among those involved was Paul Cartwright, from Ryhill near Wakefield. He is part of the West Yorkshire police band, which plays in Ypres every year on 11 November.
The 48-year-old Church of England priest told the PA news agency:
It was to be able to honour those who gave their life for us, and also to honour those who are working so hard for us now in the armed forces, to help with all the Nightingale hospitals and all the logistics.
It was to get the community involved and to give a bit of thanks for the peace that was brought on VE Day.
Remembering all those who have died in conflict and especially those killed in #WWII and rejoicing at the #Peace brought by #VEDay - Even in lockdown #WeWillRememberThem #streetparty @LeedsCofE @WYP_band #StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/Y3yjJqrxss
— Paul Cartwright (@frcartwright) May 8, 2020
Grace Harman, a 17-year-old A-level student from Kesgrave in Suffolk, said it was important to her to “pay homage to all the people who sacrificed”.
She told PA: “I knew today was going to be very poignant and a lot of people have been turning to music.”
Here is a snippet from the Last Post to celebrate #VEDay75 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/8cc9Wjbqg7
— Grace (@musician_grace) May 8, 2020
Cartwright said that by playing the same piece up and down the country, musicians could fulfil a unique role at a time when people were social distancing because of the coronavirus.
It’s a way musicians can try and unite the community at this strange time where so many people are isolated.
It was interesting to see people stopping as they came by on their walks and just have a moment as they were listening to The Last Post. It was quite moving, actually.
Harman agreed that the unique situation in the world added an extra layer of resonance to the music, calling it “especially poignant”.
She said: “It’s so still. For the trumpet, the part is quite challenging. When you master it and you get the notes perfectly, it really does it justice.”
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Cat Buckley, a care assistant, looks after the 95-year-old second world war veteran signalman Eric Bradshaw, who is in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19.
Eric, who enlisted in the Royal Navy at the age of 18 in 1943, served in Norway, the far east and across the globe in his role sending and receiving messages while his ship was at sea.
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“Somehow the quiet made it louder. By rights, marking the 75th anniversary of VE Day in the midst of a pandemic that has confined us to our homes – forcing us to keep our distance from one another, denying us the right to gather in crowds – should have muffled this commemoration,” writes the Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland.
And yet today’s marking of the end of the second world war struck a deeper chord than it might, had it been just another sunny bank holiday. Yes, the usual rituals had to be suspended. There could be no wreath-laying at local memorials: instead, Prince Charles and Camilla laid two small wreaths on their own, in a crowd-less corner of Balmoral, watched by a lone piper.
All the same, Britons seemed more conscious of this 75th anniversary than previous ones. Manufacturers of bunting and flags reported record sales, busier than for any previous VE Day commemoration, busier even than in the summer of 2012 when the London Olympics and the Queen’s diamond jubilee coincided.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that Britons in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic should seize on the memory of the allies’ victory in Europe. After all, the second world war has hovered over this crisis from the start.
Updated
As we mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, here is a selection of archive photographs from 1945.
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The Queen’s Piper joined pipers all over the world in playing this afternoon in honour of VE Day.
Pipe major Richard Grisdale, of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, played When the Battle’s O’er on the Round Tower at Windsor Castle.
The Queen’s Piper joined pipers all over the world in playing this afternoon in honour of #VEDay75.
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 8, 2020
Pipe Major Richard Grisdale of @The_SCOTS played ‘When the Battle’s O’er’ on The Round Tower at Windsor Castle. #VEDay pic.twitter.com/qHkGxcSQ0J
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The daughter of a radio intercept operator has described the moment she stumbled at Bletchley Park upon her father’s note recording Germany’s second world war surrender.
Dr Jennifer Iles, 66, from Wimbledon, was visiting the former home of the code breakers in 2018 when she approached the final museum exhibits.
One happened to be a note taken by a radio interceptor of the German surrender to the Allied forces - and Dr Iles recognised the handwriting as that of George Curd, her father.
Dr Iles told the PA news agency:
My parents, who were both radio intercept operators and met at Beaumanor Hall, often used to talk about the war.
But my father only mentioned he had taken down the surrender on one occasion in the late 1960s. They were still bound by the Official Secrets Act and my mother brought the conversation to a swift end.
My father was at Bletchley before going to Beaumont Manor so I wanted to take a look around. I was almost at the end of the museum exhibits, feeling very tired and I almost missed taking a look at the exhibits in this particular alcove.
I was taken aback when I saw the message.
The message brought the war to an end and was followed by Victory in Europe Day, with today marking the 75th anniversary of the momentous occasion.
Dr Iles hunted for a photocopy she had of the note and afterwards was able to match it with the photo she had taken at the museum. She said:
I knew my mother had been in touch with Bletchley when my father died, but I never thought any more about it.
I’m sure my parents would be amazed that it is now being displayed.
Updated
Here’s another round-up of the best photographs showing how people around the country are marking the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
RAF Sergeant Bernard Morgan was a 20-year-old code and cipher operator, part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force.
His role was to advance with the land forces across Europe and encrypt messages for pilots and UK command.
He received and printed out the first official telex message declaring the end of hostilities and that “THE GERMAN WAR IS NOW OVER”, which he now proudly keeps in his possession.
Matt Baker, a theatre director, and his neighbours dress up and sing on Cambrian Road in Chester.
Gabriella Williams, seven, Gregory Williams, nine, Carrisa Amaning, four, and Claire Williams, four, play on their scooters at a community commemoration party in the grounds of Haig Housing in Edinburgh.
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Eight veterans, including participants in the D-day landings and 97-year-old Gregory Melikian, who was tasked in the early hours of 7 May 1945 with sending the coded message announcing Germany’s unconditional surrender, defied the dangers posed by the pandemic to join Donald Trump at a wreath-laying ceremony.
Long-held plans to fly the men to a major commemoration in Russia had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.
The men, the youngest of whom is 96, were described as “choosing nation over self” by agreeing to join the US president at the World War II Memorial in Washington close to Capitol Hill.
They later joined Trump as guests of honour at the White House.
Melikian, from Phoenix, Arizona, told the Guardian:
My heroes are the guys that hit the beaches in 6,400 ships. So many never came back and are buried underneath white tombstones.
Timothy Davis, the director of the Greatest Generations Foundation, a charity that helps veterans return to the countries where they fought, said the men had sought to commemorate the day in Washington.
“Of course, we presented to them the risk we are facing,” Davis said. “They said: ‘It doesn’t matter, Tim.’”
Updated
In the Hertfordshire countryside people are finding plenty of opportunities for socially distant celebrating.
Eric Clarkson has adorned his house in Datchworth with flags from the Commonwealth and has his 1942 American army jeep out front.
Eric Clarkson and his 1942 US Army jeep celebrating #VEDay75 “Both of the kids learnt to drive in it,” he says. “It’s great fun.” pic.twitter.com/ZVQKu6SMFi
— Alexandra Topping (@LexyTopping) May 8, 2020
The jeep, which he bought in 1976, was in the British army for ten years, so there is a good chance it was in action on or around VE Day.
“I love it,” he says. “Both my kids learnt to drive in it over the fields. It’s great fun.”
A few streets down, neighbours – who met for the first time during the weekly clap for carers – are sharing a drink standing a good 2m apart on their own bits of pavement. If nothing else, these strange times are bringing us together in adversity.
Socially distant #VEDay75 partying. These neighbours first met outside their front doors at the weekly #ClapForOurCarers pic.twitter.com/kYNT2st3pQ
— Alexandra Topping (@LexyTopping) May 8, 2020
Updated
Prime minister uses VE Day call to ask Russia to help find Covid-19 vaccine
Boris Johnson has invited Russia to play a more integrated role in global efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine.
During a phone call with president Vladimir Putin to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, the prime minister suggested Russia take part in a global vaccine summit next month being hosted by the UK.
While Johnson told the long-standing leader there remained “obstacles” in developing stronger bilateral relations between the two nations, he opened the door to working together to find an inoculation against Covid-19.
Relations between the UK and Russia have been under strain since the deployment of a military-grade nerve agent on an ex-Russian intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury in 2018.
The MI6 informant and his daughter survived the Novichok attack but a local woman, Dawn Sturgess, later died, with the incident leading to the expulsion of 23 suspected Russian spies.
UK and US security services warned that hackers, who the Telegraph reported were believed to be state-backed by countries including Russia, China and Iran, were targeting the NHS to steal coronavirus secrets.
During his call with Putin, Johnson reflected on the nations’ second world war links but said more needed to be done if closer ties were to be re-established.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said:
The prime minister spoke to resident Putin today to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
They paid tribute to the collaboration between British and Russian forces during the second world war, including through the Arctic convoys, and to the heroism and sacrifice of all those who lost their lives.
They also discussed the bilateral relationship between our countries. The prime minister was clear we should maintain dialogue but that obstacles to further progress remained.
The leaders spoke about the coronavirus pandemic and agreed on the importance of continuing to work together and with other countries to defeat the disease.
Johnson is due to speak to a number of other world leaders to remember the events of 1945, including the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, in the evening.
Updated
Seventy-five years ago, crowds gathered in the streets of Europe, singing and dancing as their leaders announced the end of six years of bloody war on the continent.
On Friday, the streets were empty, and leaders stood alone in silence at places of commemoration to mark the heroics of the war generation in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.
France
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, took part in a scaled-down version of the traditional commemorations on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, alongside his two most recent predecessors, François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy.
Germany
At a distance of 1.5m, Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, came together to mark a “lonely” commemoration.
Poland
At a wreath-laying commemoration at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, wearing a black mask, expressed the mixed emotions of many his compatriots, given the decades of Soviet repression that followed the defeat of the Nazis.
Czech Republic
In the Czech Republic, where the lockdown has been partially lifted, politicians arrived at 10-minute intervals to lay wreaths on Prague’s Vitkov Hill, to minimise contact.
Russia
Vladimir Putin sent a message to Boris Johnson ahead of Russia’s national commemoration on 9 May.
Putin expressed confidence that the memory of the two nations’ “brotherhood-in-arms” would lead to constructive dialogue and cooperation between Russia and the UK.
Updated
What does the second world war mean to millennials in Europe? We asked for their views.
We are forgetting the lessons of 1945
At times of crisis, populism, racism, xenophobia and fascism rise. After the coronavirus economic crisis really hits, we will witness an unbearable climate of pro-nationalist sentiment.
In a world of global challenges, nations are the wrong scale to solve those problems. Isabel, scientist, 32, Spain
We thought war had gone the way of the guillotine
The fraying of the European project recently has made the second world war suddenly more relevant. For a long time we thought the continent’s bloody divisions were consigned to the past, along with slavery or the guillotine.
Now it feels like Europe’s tormented history was merely suspended for a few decades. I’m not frightened of a return to armed conflict, but the potential of destructive disunity feels very real. I have no sentimentality for VE Day but I do think that it should be commemorated. Aleks, 20s, Serbian, living in the UK
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Col Tom Moore’s local pub led a nationwide toast in honour of those who served in the second world war.
Publicans across the UK got behind the bar to ring their pub bell and raise a glass at 3pm. They were joined by members of the public on their doorsteps.
Publican Karl Clark, who runs Moore’s local in Bedfordshire, stood next to a flag bearing the words “lest we forget” and paid tribute to the fallen.
He said: “From The Bell in Marston Moretaine, we would like to thank those who gave so much.”
Ahead of the Nation’s Toast, Clark praised “national hero” Moore, who raised more than £32m for the NHS.
The British Beer & Pub Association called on its members, who represent more than 20,000 pubs and 90% of the beer brewed in Britain, to join in the toast.
It comes at a time when the nationwide shutdown of pubs to prevent the spread of Covid-19 has severely hampered their ability to play their traditional role as community hubs.
At the Fairway Inn in New Moston, Manchester, Mark Sweetland said:
For those that gave so much, we thank you.
I raise a glass, a good bottle of ale, for the Nation’s Toast.
For the moment of the national celebration, in remembrance and gratitude as we honour those that fought and died protecting our freedom.
I ring the bell as a salute to the heroes. Lest we forget.
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Staff at the deserted National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, observed a two-minute silence to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
Mark Ellis, the head of visitor experience, laid a wreath.
The arboretum would normally welcome around 10,000 visitors to mark such an occasion.
Updated
Mark Stephenson has sent this photograph of his father, Desmond Stephenson, who was in the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC).
Desmond was captured at Arnhem, the Netherlands in 1944 and taken to a stalag, a term used for prisoner-of-war camps, in Zagen, Poland.
Mark also sent this extract from Desmond’s diary while he was a prisoner of war:
21-3-45
The main topic of all talk in Stalag is definitely food; each man discussing what he will eat and how he will prepare it; of things that he has and hasn’t eaten and how his tastes have changed ... I have prepared a menu on a separate piece of paper of one day’s food.
Whether or not I shall be able to eat it, I leave entirely in the hands of the Lord and pray that he will keep or rather restore my health and strength sufficiently to do so ...
It started after I was wounded in the leg while in Oosterbeek in the Arnhem offensive ... It wasn’t too bad and I expected to come out again straight away, however I was kept in.
This was about 3pm on Friday 23rd Sept 1943. There wasn’t beds or even room to lay down on the floor as it was overcrowded and only a makeshift hospital, so that I had to sit on the stairs with dozens of others cases ...
And so it was, sat there on the stairs the following day in the mid afternoon with mortars and shells bursting everywhere blowing in the windows and doors, that a voice seemed to say to me, “Why not call on the Lord and ask him to take care of you”, and I did. I prayed to him for protection and guidance and immediately my shattered nerves were steadied and I was able to look at others and steady them without feeling the same ...
Menu for first few days leave
On the first day of my leave, God willing, this is what I have arranged to do. If possible three of us, Jack, Bill and myself, have arranged that if at all possible to get to one large station preferably in London and go into town to some restaurant and have a good luncheon. For this I can’t set a menu as I do not know how things will be. However we intend to have a really good meal regardless of price. Should this meal take place in any other place than London or if I have to wait any length of time at Euston station I intend going to the YMCA there and have another meal which will consist of the following:
Sausage or bacon
Mash or chips
Bread butter and tea
Sweet: Fruit and custard
Or Trifle and custard
Cakes and teaThis is usually obtainable there or was six months ago.
I then intend to buy 12 hot dogs. These consist of rolls split in half and a sausage put in with butter, and then buy some assorted cakes and biscuits all of which I will take on the train with me ...On arriving home, which will be about 6.45pm, by the way I would like to do this without them knowing that I was coming and then nothing would be prepared and I would get my usual meal as I used to when I arrived home on leave before.
After all the welcoming there would be the inevitable “You’ll be hungry” and almost at once my sister would have a cup of tea ready while she cooked something. This would consist of 2 fried eggs, 2 rashers of ham, chips and fried bread with bread, butter, jam and tea cake or pastry. I hope that I shall be able to get the same meal as I have looked forward to it many times in the past. I think it one of the tastiest meals that I used to have.
Desmond was eventually part of ‘The March’ back to the west during which many prisoners of war and people from concentration camps died.
“He survived, but only just,” Mark said.
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Reader Georgina Dayman-Johns sent this photo of her husband, Steve, playing the trombone in his union jack tie.
He was supposed to have played in the village of Nunney, Somerset to mark the VE Day anniversary.
“He has (uniquely?) played the trombone for the Remembrance service for the last 48 years!!” said Georgina.
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A picture from VE Day celebrations at Holly House residential home in the village of Milton Malsor in South Northamptonshire.
Naeha Menon from Holly House said:
We went into lockdown on March 9th to stop our residents getting coronavirus, and with the support of our great staff we remain covid free, but taking precautions to ensure everyone can celebrate happily and safely.
Footage of Prince Charles reading an extract from his grandfather George VI’s diary entry for 8 May 1945, has been broadcast to mark VE Day 75.
The extract reads:
The Prime Minister came to lunch. We congratulated each other on the end of the European War. The day we have been longing for has arrived at last, & we can look back with thankfulness to God that our tribulation is over.
No more fear of being bombed at home & no more living in air raid shelters. But there is still Japan to be defeated & the restoration of our country to be dealt with, which will give us many headaches & hard work in the coming years…
The Prime Minister broadcast his statement that the European War had ceased at 3.0 pm. The Germans had signed the Capitulation in Berlin itself. The rest of the day was a General Holiday. Great crowds had collected outside Buckingham Palace & we went on to the Balcony to see them. We were given a great reception.
We went out several times during the afternoon…I made a broadcast at 9.0pm to the British Empire. Several buildings in Whitehall besides Buck. Pal. were floodlit & we were called for to go out on to the balcony repeatedly.
We went out eight times altogether during that afternoon and evening. Lilibet & Margaret with a party of friends walked in the crowd after dark to see London in festive mood. Poor darlings they have never had any fun yet.
“The day we have been longing for has arrived at last.”
— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) May 8, 2020
The Prince of Wales reads an extract from his grandfather King George VI’s diary which describes The King’s experience of #VEDay on 8th May 1945.#VEDay75 pic.twitter.com/Rx0bsrh0SI
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Dame Joan Collins, whose family home was destroyed during the blitz, led the Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of World War Two at 3pm.
The actor and author, 86, also spoke about her wartime experiences on Good Morning Britain.
She recalled going to an air raid shelter in Marble Arch to hide from the bombing that destroyed her home:
People were passing sandwiches and thermoses of tea, some people had accordions, and a lot of people sang.
The next morning when we went back to our flat in Maida Vale, it had been completely destroyed.
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We’ve seen lots of amazing house decorations today, but this effort from Jane and Toby Lyde in Tooting, south London, is one of the best yet.
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Some more lovely contributions from Guardian readers.
Nigel Annett sent this photo of a bus shelter near his home in Aberyscir, a village near Brecon in Wales. He said he’d been moved by listening to recollections of second world war survivors.
Chris Hughes, now 83, recalls being part of the crowd celebrating VE Day in London.
I was with my mother outside Buckingham Palace and a stranger hoisted my eight-year-old frame onto his shoulders to get a better view. I got a very distant sight of the King. I remember a feeling of freedom being in London rather than Bexley in Kent.
My mother worked all during the Blitz as a district nurse, when she would travel on her bicycle despite bombs falling. I lived with a cousin during the early years in Lincolnshire and watched bombers flying out each night. We kept rabbits and ate a lot of vegetables.
My father had died in 1939 and my mother remarried - to the man who serviced her bicycle - in 1943 so I returned to Kent. I was in an underground air raid shelter most nights and spent days in the giant school shelter. It was very enjoyable for a youngster but hard for the adults.
Alison Mayes, a school office manager, feels that marking VE Day while being in lockdown has given it some poignancy. “There are some similarities between 1945 and 2020,” she said.
We are unable to see our loved ones at the moment and we are all having to make sacrifices as they did in the war.
It’s incredibly important to commemorate the occasion and to teach the younger generations about our country’s history.
It has also been a lot of fun for my children to craft homemade bunting, paper chains and flags and bake cakes for our front garden tea party. It has been a lovely diversion.
Please do keep sending in your pictures and stories. You can share them via our form - or WhatsApp by clicking here or adding the contact +44(0)7867825056.
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One of our readers, Lennox Honychurch, has sent in this message and photograph:
Readers may like to be reminded that VE Day was celebrated in the smallest and most far flung British colonies, many of which had sent men to fight in the conflict in Europe and women to serve in the ATS.
Here is a photo of VE Day 1945 celebrations in Dominica in what was then the British West Indies, with a parade going down the main street of the capital, Roseau.
Country toasts second world war heroes
People around the country are about to take part in the The Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of World War Two at 3pm.
Members of the public are encouraged to stand on their doorstep and raise a glass to those who served.
Cheers!
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The Countess of Wessex joked with a second world war airman about his hangover after VE Day celebrations when they met for a virtual chat.
Members of the royal family have been talking to wartime veterans and civilians this week to hear their stories and mark the 75th anniversary of the war ending in Europe.
Louis Goodwin, 94, from Salisbury, told the countess he had joined the RAF in 1943 as an 18-year-old and opted to train as a gunner rather than pilot or navigator because the instruction course was shorter.
Speaking on the Royal British Legion’s special online show, screened on its Facebook page, the former airman said:
When I joined, I thought the war’s not going to last that long and I’ll never get flying, because the training for a pilot was a good year, so I elected to go for a quicker course on air gunnery.
The countess asked about his safety flying in Lancaster bombers, adding: “Quite an exposed position you were in because you were right down in the tail.”
Goodwin joked: “I wasn’t quite as fat as I am now, with flying gear on it was a job to get in anyway - a little bit tight sitting behind four machine guns.”
When he said that he had left the VE Day party at 11pm, the countess said that was “quite civilised, not too bad.” He replied: “We had a few drinks.”
“You remember the headache the next morning?” she asked.
“Yes, yes and wondering what we were going to do next,” Goodwin replied.
During the Royal British Legion’s online show, Dame Joan Collins described how her London home was destroyed in an air raid when she was a child, and the tenor Alfie Boe sang.
Collins said: “We got bombed out and I remember going to our home in Maida Vale and seeing that the whole flat was gone.
“‘Oh, where’s my toys?’ I said to my mother. ‘Well, we’ll have to buy you some more,’ said my father toughly.”
The Princess Royal chatted to Dorothy Pettican Runnicles, 95, from Gloucester, who served with the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a petty officer and air radio mechanic.
She said she had “volunteered for the services because it was the thing to do, we had to get this war finished”.
Dorothy was 19 when she lost her boyfriend in an air crash while she was working in the Fleet Air Arm.
She said about her service: “It challenged me, it stretched me. I learned about death.”
The princess asked how she was coping with the coronavirus lockdown.
“I’m not good in my mobility and I worry [about] not getting out of the flat, but I’ve got instructions from my grandchildren, I’ve got to stamp about the flat from each room and pretend I’m doing physical work,” she said.
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Here are some more great photos of how people have been marking the day around the country:
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The Guardian photographer Murdo MacLeod was given access to the David Walker Gardens care home as it prepared to celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
Clear of Covid-19, strict protective measures are in place.
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Hi everyone, this is Jessica Murray, I’ll be taking over the VE Day live blog for the rest of the day.
Please do send in photos of your decorations, commemorations and celebrations - or any personal stories you would like to share. It’s been great to see people coming together to mark the day across the country.
Email: jessica.murray@theguardian.com
Twitter: @journojess_
My grandparents are celebrating up in Rothbury, Northumberland, where the model Spitfire my grandad built is on display on the front lawn.
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Thanks everyone who has followed the live feed today. I am now handing the blog over to my colleague Jessica Murray who will continue with coverage. Hope you’ve enjoyed it – and thanks so much for sharing all your photographs and stories with me.
Back in 1985, on the 40th anniversary, the Queen spoke of her memories of VE Day. Today, the royal family’s social media platforms have re-broadcast short extracts, in which she talked about joining in with the celebration.
She recalled “the thrill and relief” of the end of the war in Europe, and how she managed to join the jubilant crowds without being recognised.
“My parents went out on the balcony in response to the huge crowds outside. I think we went on the balcony nearly every hour, six times. And then when the excitement of the flood lights being switched on got through to us, my sister and I realized we couldn’t see what the crowds were enjoying. My mother had put her tiara on for the occasion, so we asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognized,
So I pulled my uniform cap well down over my eyes.”
She added: “We cheered the king and queen on the balcony and then walked miles through the streets. I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief.”
She added: “ I think it was one of the most memorable nights of my life.
‘I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief.’
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 8, 2020
The Queen was 19 years old on VE Day. More than thirty years later, she recorded her memories for a unique BBC Broadcast. #VEDay75 pic.twitter.com/jWf4bebj2e
Video - RAF display team colours the skies
The RAF’s display team colours the skies above London red, white and blue to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Nazi commanders surrendered to allied forces in a French schoolhouse 75 years ago on 8 May 1945, bringing the second world war in Europe to an end.
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Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has paid tribute to second world war veterans.
She said:
They showed the necessity and the value of personal sacrifice for the common good.
They demonstrated the resilience of the human spirit and our ability to overcome adversity.
As we pay tribute to them for their bravery, dedication and idealism that they showed 75 years ago, let’s also thank them for the inspiration they give us today.
Our challenge may be different, but as they did then, we will overcome it.
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The Queen’s recollections of her VE Day celebrations as “one of the most memorable nights of my life” have been shared by Buckingham Palace.
The monarch recorded an interview for the BBC Radio 4 programme The Way We Were for the 40th anniversary on 8 May 1985.
As a 19-year-old princess, she joined thousands of other revellers after slipping into the crowds to dance and sing outside Buckingham Palace unnoticed with her 14-year-old sister Princess Margaret.
In the archive audio on the royal family’s social media channels, the Queen can be heard saying: “We cheered the King and Queen on the balcony and then walked miles through the streets.
“I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief.”
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The Duchess of Cornwall has recorded excerpts from her father’s own account of his second world war service. Major Bruce Shand’s memoirs, Previous Engagements, recount his time serving with the 12th Royal Lancers. Camilla chose extracts documenting his time serving in north Africa, where he lost two of his closest comrades, and as a prisoner of war in Germany.
The Duchess of Cornwall has recorded excerpts from her father’s own account of his service in WWII, as the nation comes together & reflects on #VEDay75.
— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) May 8, 2020
Major Bruce Shand was taken to Germany as a prisoner of war in 1942, before escaping capture and returning to Britain in 1945. pic.twitter.com/hxOfVWyUUC
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Jane Hodges has sent in comments from her father, who was in a prisoner of war camp outside what was then the German town of Brux. He was a gunner in the Royal Artillery. Below are his comments on the last months of war.
The last months of the war were rather a nightmare and in some ways unreal. On the face of it everything went on as normal. We still went to work escorted by sentries each day but the hydrowerk had been put out of production by bombing. Because of lack of food we were now all lacking in energy and did very little work but we had to be on the job and just went through the motions. It was an effort to march to and from the workplace.
He added:
The sheer chaos in central Europe at the end of the war was beyond believe and description. There were exPOWs but large numbers of forced workers, men and women of all ages and nationalities all on foot and trying to go home. Practically all were hungry and poorly dressed, many without shoes. Some I believe were former soldiers who had found civvies but they kept a low profile and also German civilians trying to get to the west out of the hands of the Russians.
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The UK’s first skytyping display has been held to mark VE Day and pay tribute to frontline workers.
Messages such as We Will Meet Again and Thank You were etched in the sky above Henstridge airfield in Somerset.
The display was commissioned by the Department for Transport, which recently introduced a law change to allow skytyping and skywriting to take place.
The techniques were outlawed in the UK in the 1960s over safety concerns, but are used in many countries such as the US, Australia, France and Spain.
Skywriting was inadvertently discovered by an RAF pilot during the First World War, when oil accidentally entered a plane’s exhaust, creating dense, white smoke.
According to the DfT, skytyping, which involves smoke being emitted in a series of bursts, was not conducted in the UK before Friday’s display in Somerset.
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said:
Victory in Europe Day will always be a landmark in British history and it is an honour to have commissioned the first skytyping display in the UK to mark the occasion.
With its strong British history, stemming from the creation of skywriting, it seems an entirely fitting way to honour all those who fought for our freedom while also thanking those keeping the country moving during this challenging time.
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Boris Johnson speaks to 102-year-old veteran
The prime minister told a 102-year-old war veteran he was “awesome” after the two-minute silence held at 11am to mark VE Day.
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman told reporters during a briefing:
He held a Zoom call with a veteran, an amazing guy by the name of Ernie Horsfall. He is 102 and one of the UK’s oldest surviving servicemen.
Ernie served with the Army’s Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers from 1940 to 1946 as a staff sergeant.
He was in Naples on VE Day, on the outskirts of the city along the Pompeii road, running workshops to repair and maintain tanks.
He and the PM had a really lovely conversation, they spoke for just over half an hour.
Johnson told Ernie he was “awesome” and a “credit to his generation” during the call.
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William Cave from Somerset sent in the following message and photograph.
My father was commander of ‘A’ squadron 44th RTR, his brother was killed in Burma. This is my VE Day memorial to them and all who served, here with my lovely Emma, an A&E nurse and on her way to work. Going to attempt the Last Post on a plastic trumpet at 2.55pm before a lockdown 2 metre Zoom toast with family and whichever villagers have emerged to complain about the terrible noise.
Another reader, Doreen Scerri, said that she had just finished a wreath she made by painting water bottles, cutting them into strips, and stapling them to cardboard painted white. She added: “Yesterday we had a rosemary plant delivered with our groceries and it was wrapped with a UK flag print. With the lockdown I had to make do with what I could find.”
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I’ve been enjoying all your wonderful photographs as VE Day is marked in different ways this year because of coronavirus. Please do continue to share your images, and I hope you enjoy the day despite the restrictions in place.
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A group of volunteer bakers has made 800 bags of treats that they will deliver to vulnerable members of the community who are self-isolating. Amersham Rotate said they had come together to add something special to this VE Day at home.
If you want to share your photographs with me, then please do.
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The SSAFA, the armed forces charity, says it is “immensely honoured” to have received a message of support from the Queen on VE Day.
The Queen, who is the charity’s patron, was joined by Prince Michael of Kent in sending her best wishes.
She said: “As patron of SSAFA, the armed forces charity, I am pleased to send my best wishes to the beneficiaries, volunteers, employees and all those concerned with the charity on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
“At this increasingly challenging time, I know that you have continued to provide support to members of the armed forces and veterans, together with their families.
“As you reflect on the charity’s 135-year history, my thoughts and prayers remain with you all for your continued safety and the future success of your important work.”
Some beautiful photographs of the Red Arrows flying over Westminster. The nine RAF Hawks pilots put on a colourful display in an arrow formation, trailing red, white and blue smoke over Ingoldmells, East Ham, Westminster, Bracknell and Winslow before flying out over Northamptonshire.
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As I run the live feed, please do share your pictures and comments with me. I’d love to know how you are marking the day with those around you given the current lockdown.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
Vladimir Putin has sent a message to Boris Johnson on the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
The Russian president said: “The Great Victory was a pivotal event of the 20th century with enduring significance for the fate of all humankind. It was achieved thanks to the joint efforts of the Soviet Union and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. That invaluable experience is no less needed today.”
The Kremlin said he also expressed confidence that the memory of the two nations’ “brotherhood-in-arms” would lead to constructive dialogue and cooperation between Russia and the UK.
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Katherine Jenkins has performed in an empty Royal Albert Hall to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Her rendition of wartime favourites will be streamed on YouTube.
The mezzo-soprano said the performance left her speechless and was one of the most incredible experiences of her career.
“I have sound-checked here many times before for my own concerts so thought I’d know how it might feel today, but it really was something special,” she said.
“I’m so honoured to have been asked to do this and excited that we are making history, a first for the Royal Albert Hall and for me of course.
“I was lucky enough to be involved in the 60th and 70th VE Day celebrations, so I’ve seen first-hand what these events mean to the veterans and their families.
“We must do all we can to suitably honour this momentous day to the best of our abilities under the circumstances and we hope the nation will help us with that. I hope that you all enjoy and sing along. It has been a day to remember.”
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The Prince of Wales wrote on the card that accompanied his wreath at the Balmoral war memorial: “In everlasting remembrance. Charles.”
The Duchess of Cornwall wrote on her card: “In memory of my darling father and all the officers and men of the XII Lancers who fought so bravely to give us peace. Camilla.”
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A Winston Churchill impersonator did not despair when a three-day VE Day outdoor celebration was cancelled because of Covid-19.
Derek Herbert was to have given a Churchillian speech at Hever Castle in Kent, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, which was to turn red, white and blue throughout the bank holiday weekend.
Locked down instead at his home in Little Neston, Cheshire, with wife, Linda, who portrays Clementine Churchill, he will be dressed as the wartime prime minister on Friday for a series of online performances.
Among the events will be the VE Day 1940s Performers Extravaganza, a free concert hosted on Facebook by the singer Miss Madeline Brown.
Herbert has played Churchill for about 15 years, and his screen credits include the BBC dramas Close To The Enemy and Summer Of Rockets. He also features in the movie Lawrence: After Arabia, starring Brian Cox and Hugh Fraser, to be released later this year.
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How are you marking the VE Day anniversary in lockdown?
Before the coronavirus crisis, plans were made for street parties and parades, and even the first May bank holiday was moved for the occasion. But with the UK still in lockdown, we’d like to hear how readers will be marking the anniversary.
You can share your pictures and stories via our form - or WhatsApp by clicking here or adding the contact +44(0)7867825056. We’ll feature some of them in the blog.
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Dame Vera Lynn has given her thanks to the wartime generation in a message broadcast on the Royal British Legion’s livestream.
In a message read by the actor Lesley Sharp, she said:
As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the war, what a perfect opportunity for me to say thank you to everyone who did their bit to help us fight for freedom.
Not only our wonderful air force, navy and army, but all the munitions workers in factories, those who broke the codes, the land girls and everyone else in the country.
Neighbours helping neighbours, every person involved helping in some way.
My love and thanks to you all, Dame Vera.
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Some of you have been sending me photographs of how you are marking the day. Below is a selection.
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Stanisław Aronson took part in the Polish resistance under Nazi occupation. He lives in Israel. He said in an interview:
As members of the Polish underground home army, VE Day was a very gloomy day for my friends and me. I had recently returned to my grandfather’s empty villa in the city of Lodz, after nearly six years on the run. I come from a Jewish family, and all of my immediate relatives died in the Holocaust. I only survived because I escaped from a train bound for Treblinka, after which I joined the Polish resistance. We fought the Germans in Warsaw, but after they were defeated the Soviets occupied our country and they were arresting and executing Polish home army officers. It was also the time that I realised that my family, for whom I had been waiting in Lodz, wasn’t going to come home.
While the rest of Europe celebrated, we were in hiding. We already knew for a few months that the war would end soon, but that it would not bring us any great joy. It was just another grey day, the end of years of suffering, but no freedom. I’m not sure that everyone in Poland felt the same way as us, but we did see substantial collaboration with the new regime.
For me, VE Day meant the end of one horror and the beginning of another that I didn’t want to be a part of. After the war I left Europe and moved to what would become Israel. I know it marks a great achievement, but for the last 75 years I have never celebrated this day and I doubt I ever will - the part of me that remains strongly Polish does not allow me to do so.
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A 98-year-old RAF veteran has completed a 2.2-mile walk in Belgium to raise funds for a much-loved soldiers’ club in the Flemish town of Poperinge.
George Sutherland, the son of a Belgian mother and Scottish father, escaped to Britain when the Germans invaded Belgium in 1940.
He walked from Lijssenthoek commonwealth war cemetery in Poperinge to Talbot House, a clubhouse for all the ranks founded in 1915 but which is facing financial ruin because of the coronavirus lockdown.
Sutherland had a police escort and was accompanied by a pipe major from the memorial bagpipe band of the Church of our Lady in Poperinge. You can see the video here.
He was inspired by the fundraising efforts of Tom Moore, the army captain promoted to colonel last week after raising more than £31m for the NHS by walking a hundred lengths of his 25-metre garden before his 100th birthday.
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UK falls silent to remember those who died
The UK has fallen silent to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day as the country was urged to draw on the “same spirit of national endeavour” during the coronavirus crisis.
Millions of people across the country paused at 11am on Friday to remember those who served in the second world war and the price so many paid for freedom.
The poignant moment was led by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, who each laid a wreath at a memorial near Balmoral.
Veterans and members of the public, unable to gather by their local war memorials as normal, reflected quietly in their own homes.
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Thanks everyone. Please do share your pictures and comments with me as I blog this morning. I’d love to know how you are marking the day with those around you given the current lockdown.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
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The blog will be on hold from 11am to mark the two-minute silence in honour of the service and sacrifice of the wartime generation, and reflect on the devastating impact Covid-19 has had on so many lives across the world. Please join us.
Some festive bunting sent to me from mid-Devon. Local activities include a minute’s silence, and raising a glass to remember those who lost their lives.
Please do share any local decorations with me.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
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Residents and staff at MHA care homes in the east Midlands have taken part in a sing-a-long of Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again.
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The Red Arrows fly over Buckingham Palace to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
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An interesting comment article today written by the broadcaster, writer and Labour peer Joan Bakewell. She writes about remembering the euphoria of 8 May 1945, and the push for a fairer society that followed. She notes that the parallels today are striking.
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The prime minister’s father, Stanley Johnson, has spoken of his delight after Boris Johnson named his baby boy Wilfred after the PM’s grandfather, a second world war RAF pilot.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I’m thrilled that Boris and Carrie have named their boy ... after my father Wilfred.
“It’s a wonderful strange feeling actually to see that this name is going to live on in this young boy.
“I actually broke the lockdown rule ... but I went, I said ‘there’s bound to be something in the papers’ and went across to the garage ... I said ‘I know I’m not really meant to be out buying a newspaper I’m not sure it’s an essential journey but I just think there’s something in the paper today about my 14th grandchild’.”
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The first minister of Wales has paid tribute to the “unimaginable courage” of those who served during the second world war.
Mark Drakeford spoke to Welsh veterans aged between 96 and 103 in calls over Zoom, Skype, FaceTime and the phone.
People across Wales, who are being asked to stay at home, will stand in silence at 11am to mark 75 years since the end of the war in Europe.
The RAF will also fly Typhoon jets over Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast.
Drakeford said:
Speaking with all veterans this week and listening to their extraordinary accounts of torpedo attacks and near misses, brought home the incredible grit and determination of an entire generation who lived through the second world war.
All of us can look to them for inspiration, to help us deal with our own unique piece of history.
I want to thank each and every person across the commonwealth who battled fascism and helped to build the foundations of a society, which we all benefit from today.
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A 98-year-old RAF veteran who says he has been inspired by the fundraising efforts of Capt Tom Moore is undertaking a two-mile walk this morning in aid of a soldiers’ club in Belgium threatened with financial ruin by the coronavirus.
George Sutherland, who escaped to Britain when the Germans invaded his native Belgium in 1940, will start his walk at 9am UK time from Lijssenthoek commonwealth war cemetery in Poperinge to Talbot House, a clubhouse for all the ranks founded in 1915 in the Flemish town, known to British soldiers as “Pops”.
Moore, who was promoted to colonel last week, raised more than £31m for the NHS by walking a hundred lengths of his 25-metre garden before his 100th birthday.
A Go Fund Me appeal to save Talbot House has so far secured €81,390 of its €100,000 target in the run up to the walk. The club is facing permanent closure after being forced by the pandemic to shut for the first time since the German occupation of 1940.
“I’m still a fit man – I used to be a footballer,” Sutherland told the Guardian earlier this week. “I will do it out of respect for all those young men who lost their lives.”
Sutherland is the son of a Scottish father and Belgian mother. A single bag-piper will play as the war veteran walks from the cemetery, where he worked as a gardener for four decades after the war, to the club.
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Hello everyone. As I run this blog today I’d like to make it as interactive as possible, documenting celebrations you are having to mark the day. Please do share your photos, messages and thoughts with me via any of the channels below.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
The main events today
Here are the main events across the UK, and how you can see them or take part:
After 10am: The Red Arrows will fly over London, and RAF Typhoons over Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast.
11am: A two-minute silence will be held to honour the service and sacrifice of the wartime generation, and reflect on the devastating impact Covid-19 has had on so many lives across the world. Broadcast on BBC One.
11.15am: The nation is invited to join in with the Royal British Legion’s (RBL) VE Day 75 livestream.
3pm: The Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of World War Two. Members of the public are encouraged to stand on their doorstep and raise a glass to those who served.
3pm: BBC One will broadcast Winston Churchill’s victory speech.
4pm: Historian Dan Snow will broadcast the last of his special VE Day inspired history lessons live on YouTube’s Timeline channel .
8pm: Captain Tom Moore, who raised more than £32m for the NHS in April, will share his memories of wartime in an ITV documentary called Captain Tom’s War.
9pm: BBC One will broadcast a pre-recorded address by the Queen at the exact moment her father, King George VI, gave a radio address on 8 May 1945.
9pm: After the Queen’s address, the nation is invited to come together in a rendition of Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again on BBC One.
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Gen Carter praised military veterans, and also younger people living through lockdown.
He told BBC Breakfast:
These tremendous people - and we’ve seen this, of course, with the now-Colonel Tom Moore, who has become a bit of a legend over the last month or so - of course, what they give us is they give us hope... and I think that word ‘hope’ is very important at the moment.
I do think we should spare a thought for the young - it was tough for them in the 1940s but it will be tough for them going forward, I fear.
The second world war veteran and NHS fundraising champion Capt Tom Moore told ITV’s Good Morning Britain:
It’s a very special day that is celebrating the end of a very fearsome war in Europe.
But today it really is a very fine day, the sun is shining on us too, so I think we all need to be very happy that the war in Europe did come to an end.”
Moore, who fought in Burma during the war, said:
It was a very important day and everyone concerned was absolutely very pleased that this was the end ... the bombing of London, the bombing of other cities ... had come to an end. It was a very, very happy day.
Despite war ending in Europe, fighting continued elsewhere:
At the time I was very concerned that all my comrades I had left in Burma were still fighting.
My thoughts were with them because although there were great celebrations here all my comrades were still fighting in Burma with the Japanese.
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Here is a selection of photographs showing today’s early celebrations.
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The UK will commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day, remembering those who fought and died in the second world war, despite the restrictions imposed to counter the coronavirus.
There will be no large-scale public events, but tributes will be paid by politicians and members of the royal family, as well as through a host of other events.
General Sir Nick Carter, the chief of the defence staff, said the scaled-down commemorative events necessitated by strict lockdown measures made it tough on the veterans, and urged the public to spare a thought for those stuck at home at a time of celebration.
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, has written to veterans to assure them that despite the ongoing lockdown, they and their efforts would not be forgotten.
“We cannot pay our tribute with the parades and street celebrations we enjoyed in the past; your loved ones may be unable to visit in person,” he said in the letter.
“But please allow us, your proud compatriots, to be the first to offer our gratitude, our heartfelt thanks and our solemn pledge: you will always be remembered.”
The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, will also release a commemorative message, and tributes will be offered by speakers in both the House of Commons and House of Lords.
A two-minute national silence will be observed at 11am
, led by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and broadcast from a location in Scotland, where they are self-isolating.
The Queen will address the nation in a televised message at 9pm, the exact moment her father, King George VI, gave a speech over the radio three-quarters of a century earlier.
The Red Arrows will fly over London, and RAF Typhoons will appear above Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast.
Capt Tom Moore, who raised more than £32m for the NHS in April, will share his memories of war time in an ITV documentary called Captain Tom’s War, which airs at 8pm.
In it he recalls having his spirits lifted by Dame Vera Lynn, whose songs include We’ll Meet Again and The White Cliffs Of Dover.
“She did a little song for us, so it really boosted the morale of everybody,” he said. “She was great.”
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Welcome to the Guardian’s live feed on VE Day celebrations, as people come together to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war in Europe.
Victory in Europe (VE) Day marks the official surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allied forces on 8 May 1945.
Please feel free to get in touch with me while I blog to share photos or information about how you are remembering those who lost their lives where you are.
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Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
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