The first week of May is always time of eager anticipation for a Summer Season filled with friendship and entertainment. This year is different. Earlier in the year, there was a glimmer of hope in the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, but as JD Vance said this week the war in Ukraine “is not going to end any time soon”. With Israel calling up its reserves for a new assault and the first attacks on Port Sudan occurring this week, it is no wonder that voters around the World are looking for “safe pairs of hands” to democratically govern their countries.
Global instability and worldwide insecurity confront us like Scylla and Charybdis facing Odysseus on his epic journey home from Troy. For many people in Britain, this is a difficult time and perhaps this is the reason that the Media is making such a fuss about the 80th anniversary of VE Day. However, we have to remember that this is a commemoration rather than a coronation and that although 8th May was a reason for the Allied countries to celebrate, it was not the end of combat. In fact, 208 Commonwealth personnel died on that day in places as far afield as the Balkans, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Gaza, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Myanmar, where 14th Army’s intense fighting carried on until August.
The 80th anniversary extravaganza begins on 5 May with a procession to Buckingham Palace similar to the one in which my mother marched 80 years ago. Displays, tea parties, tributes and concerts carry on until Thursday, with the annual Cavalry Memorial Parade in Hyde Park rounding off the spectacle. It is all a bit strange for those of us who served in the Armed Forces and remember the words of Winston Churchill: In war: Resolution, in defeat: Defiance, in victory: Magnanimity, in peace: Good Will.
VE Day Procession 8 May 1945 – Approaching Buckingham Palace
Rupert Wieloch 