VE Day 75th Anniversary

On Friday 8 May, Britain will be commemorating the 75th anniversary of VE Day when the guns fell silent at the end of war in Europe.

Due to the coronavirus restrictions, most VE Day 75 events and street parties have had to be cancelled or postponed, but you can still mark the occasion, share your pride in our country and honour the men and women of WW2.

Here’s what’s planned and how you can join in.

Friday 8 to Sunday 10 May

Hang the flags out
Decorate your home in red, white and blue, and hang out your flags and bunting. BBC Local Radio is running an initiative called ‘Great British Bunting’ and you can download everything you need to make your own bunting here.

Virtual street party
Or why not have your own picnic/street party out in your garden and join up with your neighbours virtually using one of the many online or phone apps that are available?

Village Store display
The Village Store has put a commemorative VE Day display in their window. There are some really interesting items, so do stop by and take a look, but please make sure you keep the required social distance and allow visitors to the shop and passers by to do the same.

Friday 8 May (VE Day)

Village Store, to 1pm
Mr and Mrs Stewart from High Street, Cottingham will be parking their vintage car outside the Village Store from 8.30am to 1pm on VE Day.  Pop along to see the car and also the shop’s VE Day window display, but please keep the required social distance and allow others to do the same.

11am, Two minutes silence
The Royal British Legion is calling on people to join in a moment of reflection and remembrance and pause for two minutes silence. We’ll be preceding the silence with a live rendition of The Last Post, played on trumpet by our very own Rob Cross, and following it with The Reveille. We’re not disclosing the location, as we don’t want to encourage people to gather, but we hope you’ll be able to hear it in the villages.

3pm, Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of WW2
Organised by VEDay75.org, in your own home or garden, raise a glass with the following Toast: “To those who gave so much, we thank you,” to pay tribute to the many millions at home and abroad that gave so much to ensure we all enjoy and share the freedom we have today.

3pm, Churchill’s victory speech
Winston Churchill’s victory speech will be broadcast on the BBC.

3pm, Solo pipers
VEDay75.org is asking solo pipers to mark the occasion by playing ‘When the Battle’s O’er’ from a safe and suitable location.

6.55pm, A cry for peace
VEDay75.org is asking town criers to mark the occasion from a safe and suitable location .

9pm, Queen’s Address to the Nation
Her Majesty the Queen will make a televised address to the nation at 9pm,   the exact time her father King George VI made his radio address to the nation in 1945 to announce victory in Europe. This will be followed by a UK-wide sing-song of Vera Lynn’s Wartime favourite, We’ll Meet Again, that everyone is invited to join in with.


VE Day 75
www.veday75.org


Please send your photos to jane@cottinghamnews.co.uk so we can produce an album of how our villages have marked VE Day 75 in lockdown.