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V E Day – Victory in Europe Day
8 May 2020 @ 12:00 am
8 May 2020 marks 75 years since VE (Victory in Europe)
Fittleworth, unlike London seems to have marked VE Day quietly in 1945.
Of the few people who lived in Fittleworth then and remember this important day, there are memories of a village in waiting or remembering those they have lost in the war. People were waiting for news of family members in prisoner of war camps – were they still alive? Memories of escape with people not yet back in UK, or who were waiting for a then unknown VJ Day to feel they could celebrate.
So today let us celebrate ‘at home’ – if ‘over the fence’ at a 2 metre distance with neighbours or with our BBC:–
■ 10:50 BST – at a service in Westminster, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle will lay a wreath on behalf of the Commons. Lord West will lay a wreath on behalf of the Lords
■ 11:00 – a national moment of remembrance and a two-minute silence will be held
■ 14:45 – in a special programme on BBC One, extracts from Churchill’s victory speech to the nation announcing the end of the war in Europe will be broadcast
■ 14:55 – solo buglers, trumpeters and cornet players will be invited to play the Last Post from their homes
■ 15:00 – as Churchill’s speech is broadcast, people will be invited to stand up and raise a glass in a national toast, saying: “To those who gave so much, we thank you”
■ 20:00 – another BBC One special will feature Welsh soprano Katherine Jenkins, actor Adrian Lester and singer Beverley Knight, who will be performing some well-known songs from the 1930s and 40s. The programme will culminate in the nation being invited to sing along to a rendition of wartime classic We’ll Meet Again
■ 21:00 – the Queen’s pre-recorded address will be broadcast on BBC One at the exact moment her father, King George VI, gave a radio address 75 years ago. It will be her second televised message during the coronavirus outbreak after a rare speech to the nation last month
■ 21:30 – Spotlights will light up the sky in Portsmouth to recall the experience of blackouts during the war. The local council says the lights are also to remind people “that lighter times will come again”