Closing summary
A group of 78 veterans, many wearing the medals attesting to their second world war service, attended as King Charles led the UK in a two-minute silence. In workplaces, railway stations and shops people stood, heads bowed on the stroke of noon in remembrance. Services and ceremonies were held across the UK and Europe.
Inside Westminster Abbey, it was the veterans who were honoured, by a congregation of royalty, politicians and military. Some in wheelchairs, others leaning heavily on sticks, they were presented with white roses, signifying peace, handed to them by six young people. It was a reminder that as time continues to claim first-hand witnesses to the war, the younger generation will shoulder responsibility for remembrance. Echoes of the dark days of war were woven tightly into the order of service.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer gave a bible reading and wartime favourite The White Cliffs Of Dover was sung by Wicked star Zizi Strallen. Actor Nina Sosanya read a letter written on VE Day by Janet Thornton to her teenage daughters Renee and Pippa, who were away staying in Dorset. She told them it was the “most important day of your life and of the world”, and urged them “enjoy yourselves, shout, scream, sing, wave flags, eat, drink, lemon or barley water, and make it a day of rejoicing”.
An excerpt from Winston Churchill’s 8 May radio broadcast from the Cabinet Office ricocheted off the abbey’s stone walls. His great-great-grandson Alexander Churchill, 10, was given the honour of lighting the VE Day candle and read a prayer for “peace in Europe and across the world”. It was left to the archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, in his address, to remind the congregation that those hopes of VE Day, and all the good that had come as the result of peace, would be sorely tested.
Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, has warned the “good” resulting from the second world war is “under threat” as King Charles led the UK in commemorating the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Cottrell paid tribute to “those whose sacrifice made our victory possible” against Hitler’s Nazi regime, and said he is praying again for “peace in Europe” amid Russia’s three-year invasion of Ukraine, reports the PA news agency.
Scotland fell silent to remember its wartime heroes, with a series of events taking place around the country to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. At the Scottish parliament and at public spaces including train stations, a national two-minute silence was observed at midday.
Berlin for the first time observed a public holiday on VE Day, as Germany’s political leaders gathered in the Bundestag lower house of parliament for the central ceremony marking what many Germans call a day of “liberation” from the Nazi dictatorship. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the chamber Germany must never heed the call of extremists trying to shake off the burden of responsibility for the second world war and the Holocaust.
For western Europe, including the UK, VE Day largely heralded the return of liberty and the triumph of democracy, and marked the end of Nazi aggression and occupation, the slaughter of a generation of young men, and the horrors of the Holocaust. Even so, few commemorate it in the same way or even on the same day. Belgium combines its ceremonies with Armistice Day on 11 November, which marks the end of the first world war. The Netherlands and Denmark celebrate Liberation Day on 5 May. Italy, one of Germany’s wartime allies, also marks Liberation Day – victory over Mussolini’s puppet government – but on 25 April.
For much of central and eastern Europe, the end of the second world war means something very different: the beginning of life under a communist regime. Russia itself commemorates VE Day with a huge military parade on 9 May, for the simple reason that when the ceasefire that ended the war came into force at 11.01pm in Berlin on 8 May 1945, it was already the following day in Moscow.
This year, underlining Europe’s ever-present political faultlines, the Kremlin has said Slovakia’s Moscow-friendly prime minister, Robert Fico, and Aleksandar Vučić, Serbia’s ultranationalist president, will attend, despite strong EU criticism. A counter-parade, attended by EU foreign ministers, will be held in Lviv, Ukraine. Some other former east bloc states, from Belarus to Bosnia and Herzegovina, continue to mark Victory Day on 9 May. Many, however, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have switched to the eighth since regaining their independence, choosing not to mark the date they fell under Soviet control.
Eighty years ago, Westminster Abbey opened its doors all day and late into the night for short services as about 25,000 attended to give thanks and to remember those who had made the ultimate sacrifice as VE Day marked the end of almost six years of war in Europe.
On Thursday’s anniversary it was again the focal point of UK national commemorations, with a service of thanksgiving weaving poignant reminders of war’s deprivation and loss with the hopes for the future that historic day had promised.
A group of 78 veterans, many wearing the medals attesting to their second world war service, attended as King Charles led the nation in a two-minute silence.
In workplaces, railway stations and shops people stood, heads bowed on the stroke of noon in remembrance of a day when services and ceremonies were held across the UK and Europe.
Inside the abbey, it was the veterans who were honoured, by a congregation of royalty, politicians and military. With some in wheelchairs, others leaning heavily on sticks, they were presented with white roses, signifying peace and handed to them by six young people. It was a reminder that as time continues to claim those first-hand witnesses to the war, the younger generation will now shoulder responsibility for remembrance.
Echoes of those dark days of war were woven tightly into the order of service.
