Plans to mark VE Day anniversary
Region to join commemorations of Allies’ victory in Europe with services, concerts and street parties
IT WAS a momentous event which happened a lifetime ago, but VE Day is still a huge part of our national psyche.
Now with 75 days to go to the 75th anniversary of VE Day, the Government has revealed details on how Britain will mark the historic occasion. And it is hoped people from Yorkshire and beyond will take part in the commemorations.
It follows plans already announced for events in Yorkshire to mark the landmark anniversary, including street parties, live broadcasts and a celebratory concert in Harrogate.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK Government’s plans to commemorate the Allied Victory in Europe on May 8 and give thanks to the Second World War generation.
These include a display by the Red Arrows and a Battle of Britain memorial flight above
Buckingham Palace and at 3pm, an extract from Sir Winston Churchill’s victory speech will be broadcast in public spaces across the UK, recreating the historic moment the Prime Minister announced the end of the war.
The Tan Hill Inn in Richmond, North Yorkshire, has been chosen as one of five ‘farthestflung’ locations across the UK where buglers will sound the Last Post and Reveille at 2.55pm. The remote 17th century inn joins the likes of Enniskillen Castle in Co Fermanagh and Land’s End in Cornwall where special military guests will play the bugle and pipes.
Other events across Yorkshire include a special service at Ripon Cathedral on May 8 attended by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, in one of this last public events before he retires in June.
A celebratory concert will also be held on March 30 at Harrogate Convention centre, attended by over 400 school children and featuring guest speaker Arek Hersh, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Street parties are being organised across the region including two already planned in Ripon and Catterick, and dozens of cinemas, such as the Everyman in Leeds and Odeon in Sheffield, will broadcast ‘VE Day 75’ live from the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by opera singer Katherine Jenkins. Members of the Second World War generation in Yorkshire are also being encouraged to apply to take centre stage in the London VE Day commemorations, including a procession down The Mall. Anyone who contributed to the war effort, including those who served on the Home Front, in the emergency services, as well as child evacuees, can enter a ballot.
Catherine Davies, of the Royal British Legion, said: “We’re inviting all those who contributed to victory in Europe who wish to attend these special commemorations to enter the ballot. In addition to events taking place in London it is equally as important for communities of all types across the UK to come together locally and put our Second World War generation at the heart of your events.”
Put our Second World War generation at the heart of your events.
Catherine Davies, head of remembrance at the Royal British Legion.
TO use the words of our Prime Minister, the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day marks a historic moment for people to come together and reflect on the heroes of the Second World War. Those heroes were not just members of the armed forces who showed great bravery on the front line, but the emergency services, medical staff and all of those workers, men and women, who contributed determinedly to the war effort on the Home Front.
Those civilian activities were invaluable to the
Allied Forces. To take the Sheffield “women of steel” for example, their work in factories and steel mills helped to ensure the mass production of metal crucial for munitions and armour manufacture.
As the Government and Royal British Legion draw up VE Day plans for May 8, three quarters of a century after Britain and its Allies formally accepted Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender, it is only fitting that all those who played a role in the war will be celebrated.