Victory in Europe Day

Last month saw a three-day celebration throughout Europe and beyond for VE 75 –the diamond anniversary of Victory in Europe Day following six years of suffering under Nazi terror. 8th May 2020 marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of the unconditional surrender of Germany to the Allies, the date when the war in Europe finally ended. Although the Second World War wasn’t to totally end until August 1945 with victory against Japan, millions of people nevertheless took to the streets to express their joy and relief.

Hitler had committed suicide in his bunker on 30th April during the Battle of Berlin, having first killed his dog and executed his wife Eva Braun. The short-lived Flensburg Cabinet under the leadership of Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz was put together in the aftermath. They negotiated terms and authorised their surrender, which was to lead to the division of Germany.

On VE Day, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother stood shoulder to shoulder with Prime Minister Winston Churchill on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as millions of people filled the Mall. In an unprecedented move, the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, who had been devoted to the war effort, was allowed to wander undetected amongst the crowds with her sister Princess Margaret.

After years of blackouts and bomb shelters, celebrations were very much centred on the streets. Trafalgar Square heaved with around fifty thousand revellers, many of whom jumped into the fountains.

People managed to speedily organise street parties throughout Britain while the government decreed that red, white and blue bunting could be purchased without having to use ration coupons. The Ministry of Food managed to ensure that there was enough beer available for the hundreds of pubs, whose opening hours were extended.

Rationing continued until 1954 so people had to make do with ingredients that they had available. With party staples like sweets and sugar, cake, chocolate, eggs and butter in short supply, cooks had to be creative.

Wartime food would have included things like dripping sandwiches, potato and leek pie, Spam, corned beef and faggots made from offal. But there is no doubt that many a celebratory cake was made using the family’s sugar and powdered egg ration for VE Day.

The enduring wartime community spirit meant that this was a country-wide coming together. Manufacturers even managed to produce commemorative mugs in time for the event.

Abroad, in places like New York, hordes of revellers filled Times Square, and on the Champs Elysée, Parisians sang the First World War classic ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’.

As well as street parties, there were parades, dances, bonfire gatherings and commemorative church services. Thousands of people had endured hardship and lost loved ones during the war and no one was forgotten. In London, St Paul’s Cathedral, which had famously survived the Blitz, held ten consecutive thanksgiving services.

Sadly the celebrations that were due to take place this year – which included an extended licence for pub hours – have had to be cancelled. But let’s raise a glass and look forward to our own freedom to come in the following months.