This year marks the 75th anniversary of one of the most important dates in history.
Since 1945, May 8 has been VE Day, short for Victory in Europe Day.
It celebrates the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allied forces and the end of World War Two in Europe.
Millions of Brits celebrated the news on May 8 1945.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill led the way with a radio broadcast, a speech to crowds gathered in London and an appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony alongside the Royal Family.
To mark the 75th anniversary, the traditional May Day bank holiday on the first Monday of the month has been moved to Friday May 8 for - what was supposed to be three days of celebrations.
The end of WW2 in Europe
By April 1945 the Nazi regime was crumbling, with Allied and Soviet forces overrunning Germany from the west and east respectively.
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler knew the end was close, and had heard what had happened to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Mussolini had been captured by Italian partisans on April 25. Three days later he was shot and his body hung upside down.
The Fuhrer was eager to avoid a similar fate, and on April 30 killed his dog, his new wife Eva Braun and himself in his Berlin bunker.
German soldiers started to surrender; first in Berlin, then in other parts of Germany and Europe.
At 2.41am on May 7, Nazi high command sent to Reims in France signed the unconditional surrender of German forces.
At first General Alfred Jodl, representing Nazi high command, wanted to surrender to Allied forces on the Western Front.
However the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, refused and insisted that the Nazis on the Eastern Front must surrender to the Soviet Union, otherwise he'd end negotiations.
The Nazis agreed, and the total surrender was to come into effect the following day, May 8.
VE Day celebrations
Celebrations erupted once news reached Britain.
It’s estimated that more than a million people celebrated on streets across the UK. Some of the largest crowds gathered in London, with people filling the roads from Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, up The Mall and to Buckingham Palace.
In a rousing speech, Churchill told the amassed crowd: “God bless you all. This is your victory! It is the victory of the cause of freedom in every land. In all our long history we have never seen a greater day than this. Everyone, man or woman, has done their best. Everyone has tried.
“My dear friends, this is your hour. This is not victory of a party or of any class. It's a victory of the great British nation as a whole."
The Prime Minister also appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony alongside King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) as well as Princesses Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret.
The young princesses were also allowed to slip out of the palace and join the cheering crowds.
US President Harry Truman celebrated his 61st birthday on VE Day, and dedicated the victory to his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
He had died of a cerebral hemorrhage less than a month before VE Day on April 12.
Russia celebrates the end of World War Two in Europe on May 9.
Despite the euphoria, both Churchill and Truman were keen to stress that the war was still going.
VJ Day
Allied forces continued to fight Japan after May 8.
In his radio broadcast, Churchill warned: "We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing (as Japan) remains unsubdued.”
The war between the Allies and Japanese forces continued in the Far East for another three months.
Initial calls on Japan to surrender by July 26 were ignored, and in the days following America dropped two atomic bombs on the country, annihilating the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and killing more an estimated 200,000 people.
On August 15 (still late August 14 in the US) Emperor Hirohito urged the Japanese people to accept the surrender, blaming the use of the “new and most cruel bomb”.
Shortly afterwards President Truman announced the news at the White House while Clement Atlee, who had replaced Churchill as Prime Minister in the general election in July, commented: “The last of our enemies is laid low.”
Japan signed the formal surrender on September 2 to mark the end of World War 2, however VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day) is August 15, the date Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender.
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