Senedd unites to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day
Eluned Morgan gave a statement ahead of VE Day on May 8, which marks 80 years since Allied victory over Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
She told the Senedd: 'This wasn't just another date in the history books. This was a moment that changed lives – that changed Wales – that changed our world.
'For us in Wales, this wasn't some distant battlefield victory. This touched every street, every village, every family. Over 15,000 Welsh people never came home. Thousands more returned with wounds, both visible and hidden. We must never forget them.'
Baroness Morgan also acknowledged Victory over Japan (VJ) Day on August 15, when the Second World War came to an end, during her statement on May 6.
The first minister said: 'Think about what our communities endured – loved ones gone for years, strict rationing and the terror of bombs falling.
'This wasn't a far-away war; it brought terror to Wales, in particular through the Blitz and its raids on the ports of south Wales and Pembroke Dock.
'My own father's house took a direct hit in Tremorfa in Cardiff docks, it was utterly obliterated and luckily they'd just reached the Anderson shelter in time.
'Whilst my mother until very recently talked about the one stray bomb that landed near the playground in St Davids in Pembrokeshire. Can you imagine what that day felt like 80 years ago, the sheer relief and joy that swept across Wales?'
Baroness Morgan will attend a service at Llandaff Cathedral and join prime minister Keir Starmer at Westminster Abbey on VE Day itself.
The Welsh Labour leader said: 'What I find most powerful about this anniversary is how it reminds us that our victory wasn't just Welsh or British – it was a global effort.
'People from every corner of the world came together to defeat the darkness of Nazism. That diversity is now reflected in who we are as a nation and we should celebrate that."
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