
See your family's history in vibrant colour: MyHeritage lets you enhance and colourise old war-time photos for FREE - just in time for VE Day
Ever wanted to see how your family once reacted to the end of the war in vibrant colour? Have old, blurry photos of relatives that you'd love to see in clear detail?
With VE day on the horizon, MyHeritage is helping families around the world honour and remember loved ones who lived through the momentous end of World War II in Europe with their photo enhancement and colourisation tools - and you can try them with a free trial today.
MyHeritage Free Trial
Ever wanted to discover your family tree? Simply enter a few names into MyHeritage's family tree programme and watch your tree come to life, gain new insights about your ancestors and explore billions of historical records.
Better yet, you can experience all the unmissable perks MyHeritage has to offer without paying a penny when you sign up for a 14-day free trial today.
Free for 14 days Shop
Discovering new branches to your family tree is just one of the many perks to genealogy programmes, but with 33.8 billion global historical records, colourisation and enhancement of historical photos, and so much more, MyHeritage is the gold standard, you're going to want to try.
The best part? You can experience all the unmissable perks MyHeritage has to offer without paying a penny when you sign up for a 14-day free trial today.
Victory in Europe (V-E) Day is tomorrow, and in a moving tribute to the day and the war that prefaced it, MyHeritage users from the US, UK, Canada and beyond have contributed photos with personal narratives behind them.
The unique photos offer rare, human glimpses into the joy, relief and resilience that defined May 8, 1945 – not just historical accounts but snapshots of real people celebrating peace, returning home and rebuilding.
To deepen the connection to these moments, many contributors used MyHeritage's photo enhancement and colourisation tools, which work to help restore and enrich old family photographs, allowing users to see faces, uniforms and cityscapes in a new light.
'Seeing my grandfather's face in full colour, smiling with his friends in uniform, brought tears to my eyes. It made history feel personal - like I was right there with him,' said Jennifer Martin, a MyHeritage user from Ontario.
This initiative is part of MyHeritage's mission to preserve and share family stories. By encouraging users to explore their personal histories, MyHeritage helps bridge generations and cultures with the power of storytelling, adding more records to the database to subsequently help others.
Thus, the power of MyHeritage's genealogy tools truly come into their own.
Allowing you to build your family tree, uncover your family's past and grow your tree further with automatic matches to the brand's global collection of 33.8 billion historical records, MyHeritage makes it easy to discover your genealogy from home.
Better still, with MyHeritage's photo enhancing tools, you can bring focus, stunning detail and vibrant colour to once blurry, black and white images, breathing new life into your ancestry
Better still, with MyHeritage's unmatched photo enhancing tools, you'll be able to bring sharp focus, stunning detail and vibrant colour to once blurry, black and white images, breathing new life into your ancestry.
'I have especially enjoyed the MyHeritage resources that bring my genealogy to life,' wrote one impressed reviewer. 'Colourising black and white photographs can make a huge difference, and DeepStory allows ancestors to tell their own life stories.'
Another added: 'Since joining MyHeritage in 2010, I've gone from knowing very little of my ancestors to a much deeper understanding of who they were and the lives they lived.'
Ready to discover your family tree for less? Explore MyHeritage's unmissable tools with a 14-day free trial today.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Record
8 hours ago
- Daily Record
Raploch war memorial plans take next step as long-running project moves closer
The group behind the memorial plans have found more than 120 men and women who served in World War Two from the area - with hopes to commemorate their sacrifice with a permanent monument. Raploch is stepping closer to achieving its goal of creating a lasting monument to its war dead. Rev Barry Hughes and Raploch Community Council have now lodged a planning application with Stirling Council planners to install the memorial at the north west corner of Raploch Community Campus on Drip Road. A fundraising campaign was launched last year in a bid to raise £30,000 for the war memorial to honour the community's fallen. In 2019, two local residents discovered not only the names of over 60 local men who served their country and were among the fallen of World War II, but also where they had lived in Raploch. This discovery gave the impetus for a project to build a war memorial in the Village Square outside the Raploch Community Campus, to commemorate all those from Raploch who have lost their lives in conflict. The Raploch War Memorial Group formed and then discovered over 120 men and women who also served during World War II and were injured, prisoners of war or awarded and recognised for their actions during service. They also aim to honour these men and women with a history book that has some of the stories they have discovered. The group said last year: 'We are pleased to announce that we are now in a position to begin our fundraising for the war memorial. 'It has taken us longer than we expected but we didn't want to start this process until we had everything in place to begin the official application for planning permission. 'We are hoping to raise £30,000 to fund the construction of the war memorial.' A public consultation in the area in 2022 asked people to vote on a number of options for the memorial. Asked what they would prefer to see on the memorial, 55 per cent said a list of the names of the fallen in all conflicts of the 20th/21st centuries; 30 per cent said a tribute quote to all the fallen in all conflicts; 7.5 per cent opted for only a list of the names of the fallen in World War II; and 7.5 per cent went for 'other'. A second question asking people whether the top two winning designs and quote from a local children's war memorial design competition should be included saw 94.59 per cent of respondents say yes, with 5.41 per cent saying no and 2.7 per cent unsure. The proposals for the permanent memorial to the fallen were dreamt up by local pensioner Mick Lowe and partnerships with local groups including Raploch Community Partnership, St Mark's and St Margaret's, Stirling Council and the Salvation Army have been formed for the project. The project came about after pensioner Mick began researching soldiers to find out more about his dad John, who died in 1948 after being a prisoner of war during World War Two. Mick discovered a total of 68 soldiers who died during the Second World War from Raploch. But the proposals would see a war memorial erected to pay tribute to the casualties from several conflicts who originally hailed from Raploch. Six streets in a new housing development being built in Raploch are also being named after men from the area who died in World War Two. Brewster Crescent, Fairley Crescent, Hulston Road, Turner Street, Spencer Place and McDonald Court, will become lasting legacies of six of those who lost their lives in the conflict, and their fellow fallen comrades from the community. Private Robert Brewster of 21 Hawthorn Crescent, Pte John Fairley of 43D Raploch Road, Pte William Hulston of 8 Hawthorn Crescent, Pte James Turner of 23 Hawthorn Crescent, Pte Ian Spencer of 4 Haig Avenue, and Pte James McDonald of 64 Drip Road are amongst a list of 48 names compiled by Raploch man Mr Lowe. The formal planning application lodged last week states: 'Raploch Community Council wishes to erect a war memorial adjacent to the Raploch community campus building. 'The war memorial will be 2000mm x 1500m wide, will be set on a raised foundation, and then be 2860mm high; it will be made out of sandstone.'


Metro
16 hours ago
- Metro
Bomb-filled 'doomsday wreck' comes closer to collapse with no-fly zone in place
The masts of the wreck reach ominously above the water (Picture: Pen News) A shipwreck in the Thames full of World War II explosives is coming closer to collapsing, a new report reveals. The SS Richard Montgomery – nicknamed the 'doomsday wreck' – sank in the Thames Estuary near Sheerness in Kent and Southend-on-Sea in Essex in 1944. The ship's masts are still visible above the waterline despite plans to remove them to avoid triggering an explosion of the 1,400tonnes of explosives on board. It's feared an explosion could trigger a tsunami in the Thames, hurling a '1,000ft wide column of water, mud, metal and munitions almost 10,000ft into the air – risking wildlife and the lives of many people'. Waves up to 16ft high could engulf coastal Essex and the Isle of Sheppey. Sign up for all of the latest stories Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens. And an ominous new report suggests that potential outcome is drawing closer, with several changes detected in the year since the wreck was last surveyed a year ago. The SS Richard Montgomery before it sank in 1944 (Picture: Pen News) A no-fly zone has been put in place above the wreck by the Department for Transport (DfT), which bans civilian and non-emergency aviation from flying overhead – but the department insists the wreck is still 'stable'. The survey warns the front half of the ship – which broke in two when it sank – is slowly tipping over, moving about 19in (50cm) eastward in two years. More decay was observed in the second cargo hold, where the upper port side has cracked, and the lower starboard side has become 'significantly buckled'. This has caused part of the deck above to start collapsing into the hold, with the hatch supports in this area dropping by up to 6in (17cm) in a year. The report suggests the front part of the wreck is 'splitting in two', with the back section also in trouble. The ship sank in the Thames Estuary (Picture: Metro Graphics) It explains: 'Like the forward section, the rear section is hogging and potentially breaking in two about halfway along its length. 'This area was left unsupported when the ship broke in two back in 1944. 'Consequently, it has been badly affected by wave and current action and is steadily collapsing and falling into the gap between the two halves of the vessel. 'The degree to which the bow and stern may be being undercut as the supporting sediment is eroded away is a potential concern.' Daniel Cowan is leader of Southend council, which is just five miles north of the wreck and therefore at risk if the doomsday wreck explodes. He said: 'According to the experts, the wreck of the Montgomery remains stable, so I understand that the no-fly zone that's been put in is a precautionary measure. 'But we are seeking further clarity around the long-term plans for the wreck. 'What we'd like more than anything is clarity, to understand what the long-term plans are.' New scans suggest the front part of the wreck is splitting in two (Picture: MCA via Pen News) The DfT said the no-fly zone had been put in place on expert advice, and will remain until further notice. A spokesperson said: 'Our priority will always be to ensure the safety of the public and to reduce any risk posed by the SS Richard Montgomery. 'The condition of the wreck remains stable, and experts are continuing to monitor the site. 'As part of their ongoing monitoring, they have updated advice on how authorities can further minimise risk. 'They have recommended that pilots and operators do not fly in a limited area around and above the site as specified by the Civil Aviation Authority.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: In pictures: How the D-Day landings unfolded on June 6, 1944 Arrow MORE: Two men charged with murder after boy, four, killed in pick-up truck crash in Dartford Arrow MORE: Second World War bombs discovery in Cologne forces 20,000 people to evacuate their homes


Glasgow Times
17 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Dramatic story behind Glasgow's 'dangerous' railway station
The event tapped into the considerable public interest in the construction of Scotland's first intercity train line, with all proceeds going to the Paisley Relief Fund for workmen injured on the railway. The year 1830 saw the opening of the world's first intercity railway, connecting Liverpool and Manchester. An 1831 prospectus for the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) claims that the Liverpool and Manchester line had 'infinitely exceeded the expectations of even the most sanguine'. The success of this line led to demand across the country for other intercity routes. Queen Street Station, 1963 (Image: Glasgow City Archives) The E&GR prospectus sets out how passengers travelling between Edinburgh and Glasgow by stagecoach in 1831 faced a journey of five hours, and boasts that a railway connection between the two cities would more than halve journey times, to only two hours. After years of discussion, the legislative foundation for the opening of Queen Street Station was laid with the passing of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Act of 1838. The Glasgow terminus of the line was officially opened at a ceremony on February 21, 1842. Prior to 1838, the site where Queen Street Station now stands was the location of a large rookery. Set within the rookery was Glasgow House, also known as Crawford Mansion, which served as the city residence of James Ewing of Strathleven. Ewing, former Lord Provost and MP for Glasgow, was a plantation owner, enslaver and active pro-slavery campaigner. In 1837, Ewing claimed compensation for the 'loss' of 586 enslaved people on his Jamaican sugar plantations, and was awarded substantial sums by the government. In 1838, Ewing sold Crawford Mansion to the E&GR Company for £35000 – around £3 million in today's money. The mansion was soon demolished to make way for the Glasgow terminus of the newly-authorised railway line. [Image of Cowlairs Locomotive Works, which serviced the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway, 1921] (Image: Glasgow City Archives) The location of the proposed railway station presented challenges for the project's engineers. The initial proposal had the route into Queen Street running over the Forth and Clyde Canal by means of a railway bridge. However, the objection of the canal company to the bridge required Chief Engineer John Miller to change course, leading to the construction of the Cowlairs Tunnel. While the tunnel allowed the railway to pass beneath the canal, it had the disadvantage of a considerable incline which required incoming trains to be pulled into the station by a steam-powered rope haulage system. Brake vans were attached to the front of locomotives when descending the steep gradient, to keep the speed of the trains in check. The Queen Street of 1842 bore little resemblance to the station as it currently stands. The original station had only two platforms for passengers – one for departures and one for arrivals. Most of the station was given over to goods traffic and warehouses. By the early 1870s, Glasgow Corporation had grown very concerned about the allocation of space for passengers in the station. In letters to the North British Railway Company, which had taken over E&GR in 1865, Glasgow Corporation describes Queen Street Station as 'one of the most inconvenient and dangerous in the city'. According to the local authority, the limited space for passengers, along with an 'immense' increase in passenger traffic, resulted in 'the utmost confusion and danger' in the station, with passengers 'exposed to the imminent risk of being crushed between piles of luggage or of being jostled off the platform and beneath the wheels of the carriages'. The Corporation demanded that the Directors of the NBR submit plans for the improvement of the station as a matter of urgency. After some years of delay, Queen Street Station was almost entirely redesigned, with the new and improved station completed in 1880. It was in this phase of reconstruction that the station acquired the dramatic curved glass roof we know today. 1886 saw further expansion of the station, with the construction of the low level platforms. While Queen Street is sometimes overlooked in comparison to the grander and busier Central Station, it is nonetheless able to claim seniority over its sibling, as Glasgow's oldest surviving railway station.