TV's Timothy Spall to launch VE Day celebrations by reading extracts from Winston Churchill's triumphant 1945 address
ACTOR Timothy Spall will launch Britain's VE Day celebrations tomorrow — by reading extracts from Winston Churchill's triumphant 1945 address.
Spall, 68, who played the inspirational World War Two PM in 2010 film The King's Speech, will repeat his stirring words to the nation from Buckingham Palace.
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Timothy Spall will launch Britain's VE Day celebrations tomorrow
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The Red Arrows team trail red, white and blue
Credit: Cpl Phil Dye/RAF/CMG
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The aerobatics team have been practising in Greece
Credit: Cpl Phil Dye/RAF/CMG
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Poppies on show at the Tower of London
Credit: Alamy
After his address — with its famous message 'This is not victory of a party or of any class. It's a victory of the great British nation as a whole' —
The aerobatics team, who have been practising in Greece, will leave trails of red, white and blue smoke in their wake.
Events will begin at noon and the King and Queen will be on the
The display will be followed by a 1,300-strong procession of British and Commonwealth troops down Whitehall, through Admiralty Arch and up The Mall.
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Eleven members of the
Their leader, Major Pavlo, 30, who could not give his surname for security reasons, said: 'Being a part of this is a real privilege.
'It's a really important time to show strength, unity and partnership with the UK and other allies.'
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Lt Col Charles Foinette, 47, whose RAF bomber grandad was shot down during the war, is lead organiser for the march.
He said hundreds of troops, many on horseback, processed to the sound of bagpipes in a rehearsal from 2.30am on Saturday, much to the surprise of revellers in central London.
VE Day was a 'jolly' moment but work went on, 100-year-old former Wren says
Tomorrow's celebrations will be the first of four days of events across Europe to mark the final defeat of the
Major buildings will be illuminated including 10 Downing Street, the Tower of London, Cardiff Castle, Rochester Cathedral in Kent and Belfast City Hall.
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On Tuesday, events will be held on HMS Belfast, now a museum ship moored on the Thames close to Tower Bridge.
It fired some of
Street parties will take place nationwide.
Events will conclude on Thursday — the May 8 anniversary of 1945's VE Day — with a service of thanksgiving from
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Ken Cooke, 99, one of the last living
Ken, of York, laughed: 'I'm in the bad books, I think.'
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Union flags at the ready on the Mall
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Proud Ukrainian soldiers practise
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A dry-run by the Cenotaph at night
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