“My dear friends, this is your hour. This is not victory of a party or of any class. It’s a victory of the great British nation as a whole.”
So began Winston Churchill’s speech on the 8th May 1945 from the balcony of the Ministry of Health. You can listen to part of the speech on the pages of the International Churchill Society.
On the 75th anniversary of VE Day we remember with gratitude and respect the brave men and women who fought for our freedoms. To those who gave so much, we thank you.
It’s with sadness that we cannot share that sense of national gratitude in a village celebration today, but we can still remember privately. You might want to read the words of Edmund Blunden, writing about the end of the war in Europe in his poem, “V Day”, published for the first time today. There are sentiments in the poem that still ring very true today in the face of our current challenge.