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Friday 8 May is the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe, when the nation will join together to commemorate the service and sacrifice of the Second World War generation.
On that day in 1945, Prime Minister Winston Churchill officially announced the end of the Second World War in Europe. The unconditional surrender of all German forces was signed on 7 May 1945 in Reims, formally ending the war in Europe. The war in Asia continued, finishing on 15 August 1945 (VJ Day).
While we can’t yet get together with friends and family, there are lots of ways of marking the day if you’re lucky enough to have time off over the bank holiday weekend.
You can find out lots about the day online on the official VE Day website which includes veterans' stories, what to watch and links to other organisations including the Imperial War Museum.
HM The Queen will address the nation to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day at 9pm on BBC1 on Friday 8 May, the same time that her father, King George VI, declared war was over in Europe from a bomb-scarred Buckingham Palace. The Queen’s message will be broadcast from Windsor Castle, followed by a national singalong of Dame Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again. It will be a day of virtual celebration and thoughts of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Royal British Legion have partnered with the National Literacy Trust to create resources for parents and carers and include family-friendly activities and support to help talk about VE Day and Remembrance.
Access the learning activities
Decorate your home in red, white and blue, have an indoor or garden picnic and why not include recipe ideas from 1945? How about some nostalgic music?
Here’s where to find some great inspiration and resources to get ready for bank holiday Friday 8 May at home and to commemorate VE Day 75 with the nation.
Download activities to do at home, make posters, bunting and print pages to colour in
Bunting from BBC resources online.
Featuring colouring-in bunting, a spitfire glider and a VE Day-themed wordsearch, these children’s activities have lots to keep the kids busy and to inspire conversations about VE day.
Plan your own party at home, with recipes from Prue Leith and Nadiya Hussain and music.
Visit English Heritage’s website and check out an imaginative section on the background to VE days, tips on how to master the Lindy Hop and Spotify playlists including classic songs from Glenn Miller and Vera Lynn.
They also feature recipes.
A beautiful photographic gallery also provides a moving insight into that day in 1945.
For one day only Absolute Radio 40s will be celebrating the best music of the era, from Vera Lynn to George Formby, you can have a virtual street party and mark the occasion safely at home.
Virtual VE Day 75 Festival - The National Museum of the Royal Navy, the National Army Museum and the Royal Air Force Museum are joining forces to host a free online festival, bringing to life the stories of those who helped deliver Victory in Europe.
If you’ve ever felt inspired to trace your own family history, or would like to know if anyone in your family had a role in the Second World War, you can use your library card to get free access to ancestry.co.uk while the libraries are closed. Just log into your library account and you'll see a link to Ancestry near the top of the page.
If you don't have a library card, Ancestry UK has made all their UK historical records free until Sunday 10 May, so your friends and family can discover personal stories too.
If you’re a local resident, visit RBWM’s digital resources page to find out more
Discover your local and family Second World War histories and connections online using the Imperial War Museum or the National Archives.
Historian and broadcaster Dan Snow has set a challenge to think about how you would tell the story of VE Day today and uploaded logos and posters for colouring! Dan will also host a History Hit live on YouTube’s Timeline channel that will focus on a different aspect of the Second World War and aim to teach the public about the importance of VE Day from Monday 4 May.
The Royal British Legion – VE Day Learning Resources
Maidenhead
If you'd like to see how Maidenhead residents celebrated VE Day in 1945, the Maidenhead Heritage Centre have compiled an online booklet with lots of child-friendly activities including photos of children in Maidenhead, information about posters in the war, rationing, a bunting design and a 'can you spot it' challenge.
The Windsor area
What was it like on the day in 1945 in the Windsor area? Delving into archives, courtesy of Eton Wick History Group and from Mr. John Denman, it was a warm Tuesday and a two-day holiday had been declared as reported in the Windsor and Slough newspapers. Many went to church and the bells rang out, including those of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. After Winston Churchill’s broadcast to the nation, crowds gathered from the afternoon and flags and bunting were put up in Windsor, Slough and Eton.
By evening, everyone was out cheering and dancing and rockets lit up the night sky. Bonfires were lit, many with effigies of Hitler and his cronies. A huge bonfire was set on fire at Bachelors Acre by the Mayor of Windsor which signalled the start of the main celebrations that went on into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
In Slough, the Town Hall was floodlit and Windsor’s riverside was adorned with fairy lights. Villages around the area were also celebrating with bonfires and dancing. The sky reflected the glow from multiple bonfires.
There was a large bonfire in Datchet and it kickstarted the celebrations that continued until Wednesday night when there was dancing to the music of the Royal Artillery band from the local ack-ack batteries.
Eton College boys celebrated with buckets of water and water from the stirrup pumps. Revellers ran up and down Keate’s Lane and a huge bonfire was lit on Fellows Eyot. When the fire died down, many boys and other revellers made a triumphant march up Eton High Street, over the bridge and on to Castle Hill, where they met other joyous crowds. By the late evening, many pubs had run dry, but the festivities continued as no one wanted to go home!
The only floodlit building in Eton was College Chapel but elsewhere floodlighting and fairy lights were put up. Army searchlights were also used to add to the illuminations.
Informal street parties and celebration teas took place and for the many children, it was the first time they had seen shops lit up. Children at the teas received an orange and 1 shilling.
In Eton Wick, street parties were held and after tea, the children were dancing, racing and had many games laid on for them. The day ended with three cheers for the boys still serving overseas and wishes for their safe return.
A Welcome Home party was held the following year in Eton Wick in May for the returning service men and women. From Eton Wick, over 100 men and women served in the Armed Forces, of whom 12 died on active service.
When HM The Queen addresses the nation on this coming Friday, she will probably think back 75 years to that night when she, then the 19-year-old Princess Elizabeth and her 14-year-old sister Princess Margaret, joined thousands of revellers as they gathered in front of Buckingham Palace. The princesses danced the Conga and the Lambeth Walk and sang with the crowds that night. Elizabeth and Margaret appeared six times with their parents throughout the day and evening, one being with the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.
It was Princess Margaret’s idea that she and her sister should join the crowds and the King and Queen agreed to it.
The King writing in his diary later about his daughter’s lack of a social life wrote, “Poor darlings, they have never had any fun yet.”
The RBWM Library Service have been reading Letters from the Front Line for VE Day
The Windsor & Royal Borough Museum are bridging the decades. If you can gather any memories from friends and family about VE Day, please share them on their facebook page or email them at museum@rbwm.gov.uk.
Grandma flew Spitfires is the only exhibition in the world dedicated solely to the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), one of the forgotten stories of World War II. The ATA was based at White Waltham in Maidenhead, who task was to ferry aircraft from the factories to the air bases. Notabably women were encouraged to join, flew virtually every type of aircraft used by the RAF, and were the first women in the UK to receive equal pay to their male colleagues. The exhibition is also home to a fabulous Spitfire simulator! Celebrate VE Day with our activity filled, educational and fun booklet. Aimed at children up to KS3, it covers World War Two rationing, posters and VE Day and includes personal accounts from those living in Maidenhead during the War.
On Monday 30th September 1940, an Me109 crashed in Windsor Great Park and the pilot was captured. The plane was moved to the junction of Park Street, High Street and Sheet Street where locals could pay to look at it, with all the money going towards a Fighter Fund.
While the stunning Spitfire was the icon of the Battle of Britain, the Hurricane was the workhorse and accounted for most of the victories during the battle. The Hurricane was designed by Windsorian Sir Sydney Camm, and there is a Hurricane memorial alongside the Thames a few hundred yards from his home.
Station Victor was a radio centre run by the secret intelligence branch of the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS).
"After failing a medical assessment, Waldorf Astor, was unable to join the army, so instead, he decided to offer part of Cliveden’s estate as a hospital for the British Army. They turned down the request but the Canadian Red Cross accepted instead. A hospital was built and it treated injured allied troops during the fighting of the First World War. The hospital was now where you can find the covered tennis court, racquets court and bowling alley of Cliveden House. Over 24,000 troops were treated at the hospital and it is said that only a relatively small number died. Those who died were buried in ‘The War Memorial Garden’." - from Visit Bucks
"In 1941, Danesfield House was requisitioned as a base to develop the intelligence section of the Royal Air Force. The property remained in the hands of the RAF until 1977." - from Visit Bucks
Picture of Princess Elizabeth meeting 'Dad's Army' at the Castle 6 months before the end of the war from ThamesWeb. The full article on ThamesWeb 'Recollections of the Home Guard in Windsor' by S R South is a reproduction of the Windsor Local History Group 'Windlesora' No. 4 in 1985.
At the age of 14, Princess Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast while at Windsor Castle during the BBC's Children's Hour to send her best wishes to children who had been evacuated from Britain to America, Canada and elsewhere. She said: "We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well; for God will care for us and give us victory and peace. And when peace comes, remember it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place." The Queen will again address the nation on Friday at 9pm.
Follow us on social media and we’ll be sharing more ideas and online events, as well as ideas for celebrating at home.
We’d also love to see your celebrations and what you’ve be making, tweet us @visitwindsor using the hashtag #VEDAY75
Click here to see a full list of businesses currently offering takeaways/click and collect
Windsor and Eton Brewery VE Day "Pub in a Box"
Jelly Lounge VE Day "Afternoon Tea Picnic Box"
Afternoon tea picnic boxes delivered to your home for this Friday's VE day celebrations!
— The Jelly Lounge (@TheJellyLounge) May 5, 2020
Order here from now till Friday 11AM:https://t.co/Jw6gh0Yhgj
Boxes of homemade deliciousness will land on your doorsteps#VEday #streetparty #windsor #stayhome #staysafe #havefun #celebrate pic.twitter.com/cOeUXxzBGE
Taplow House Hotel - VE Day Cakes
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