King Charles to lead greatest VE Day celebration in years
The King will lead the nation through the most prominent VE Day celebration in years.
Senior members of the Royal family will mark next week's commemorations as they come out in full force to take part in nationwide tributes in the last major 'living memory' opportunity to do so.
The public is being urged to 'not forget' the sacrifices made by Second World War veterans.
Landmark buildings across the country will be lit up as events are staged to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Europe. These will include a military procession, an RAF fly-past over Buckingham Palace, as well as a concert at Horse Guards Parade.
Starting the commemorative proceedings will be Timothy Spall, the actor, who is set to read extracts from wartime prime minister Winston Churchill's renowned VE Day victory speech in 1945.
He will be followed by Alan Kennett, the 100-year-old Normandy veteran, who will formally begin Monday's procession of 1,300 members of the Armed Forces after being handed the Commonwealth War Graves' Torch For Peace.
The Tower of London will unveil a new installation of nearly 30,000 ceramic poppies on the site as one of their Beefeaters praised the importance of 'the last big one' for WWII veterans.
Sergeant Daniel Benson, the Yeoman Warder who stood guard over the late Queen 's coffin as she lay in state in Westminster Hall, said: 'It's important that our veterans are going to be alive for this last one, or this last big one.
'But I think it's for everybody, because there have been a lot of conflicts around the world, and especially those that I've been involved with, that my colleagues have been involved with.
He added: 'So it's important for everybody just to understand, and it's sad that the veterans are going to probably not get another big one – this is our time to remember that.'
The 54-year-old, who formerly served in the Armed Forces for 26 years, was wearing his Yeoman Sergeant stripes for the first time on Thursday as he was photographed amid the poppy display being assembled around him.
Among the 30 daily volunteers building the display – modelled from the 2014 commemorative art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red – was Annette Boak, a retired teacher whose late grandfather died during the war serving as a signals operator for the Royal Air Force.
As she assembled the ceramic poppies wearing protective gloves, she said: 'Soon we'll have nobody that remembers the war.
'My father, who died years ago, was a child during the Blitz and he was evacuated away and he remembers being in Devon and told stories all about it.'
The poppies installation within the inner walls of the Tower of London, which is taken care of by the Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) charity, has been made to resemble a 'wound' at the heart of the tower, which was bombed during the Blitz.
During the commemoration celebrations, Queen Camilla will view the installation and meet the team behind the display, which took 10 days to complete at the pace of around 3,000 poppies planted each day.
It has been designed to mark and reflect the sacrifices made by so many during the Second World War.
Rhiannon Goddard, the head of public engagement projects at HRP, said: 'The Tower of London has become a bit of a place of remembrance...the 80th anniversary is a really important one.
'It's sort of as things are passing out of living memory, so we wanted to do something really special...this is a moment where we can still talk to those veterans and share their memories.'
She added: 'I do think that 2014 really made us into a place where national commemoration was something people thought about.'
Surviving veterans around the country will see London's most iconic buildings light up from Tuesday evening, including Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London and the Shard.
Sir Keir Starmer described next week's commemoration plans as 'a moment of national unity' to 'salute' the service of Second World War veterans.
His comments came as one of the last survivors of the assault on the D-Day beaches in 1944 died aged 101 on Thursday.
Cecil Newton from Aldbourne, Wiltshire, who served in the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, died in his sleep.
The Prime Minister added that it will be 'a time to celebrate that hard-won peace, honour the memory of those who lost their lives, and remember the sacrifices made by so many to secure our freedom'.
He said: 'Their legacy lives on today in how we stand together in defence of the values they fought for and which bind us together as a nation.'
Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, said: '80 years ago, millions of people celebrated the end of the Second World War in Europe.
'This week, we will recreate this moment across towns and cities, in our homes, in pubs and on our streets.
'We must do all we can to ensure that the stories and memories of this period in our history are not forgotten. We must not forget the hardships, the heroics and the millions who lost their lives.
'We are here because of the sacrifices they made and the horrors they endured. This week, I urge the nation to come together and send a powerful message: we will remember them.'
On Thursday, celebrations will include a service at Westminster Abbey will begin with a national two-minute silence and then will conclude with a concert at the historic Horse Guards Parade.
The concert, intended to finish the VE Day 80 commemorations in a celebratory tone, will be attended by the King and Queen.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Whitby air cadets face closure without new volunteers
An RAF air cadet squadron could be forced to close if it cannot recruit more volunteers to help run 740 Squadron currently has three instructors and about 15 cadets, but is set to lose one member of staff due to other work the unit closed, cadets would have to travel to join squadrons in Scarborough or Teesside, removing an "important" youth group from the coastal town, according to Sqn Ldr Alan Taylor."We get [cadets] out in the field, doing practical activities and teaching life skills and I think every town should have the kind of organisations that offer these opportunities," he said. The cadet programme is open to young people aged from 12 to 18 and runs twice-weekly sessions and weekend activities. These include flying, fieldcraft, shooting and academic to current staffing, the squadron can only run one parade night a week, where cadets undergo training such as uniform inspections and cadet numbers drop, they can become 'detached flights' connected to a larger squadron, but no increase in volunteers could force the squadron to close entirely. The unit is holding an open evening on Thursday 19 June where prospective cadets and volunteers can find out instructors aren't required to have a military background or commit to a set amount of hours per week, Sqn Ldr Taylor are also a number of roles available, from administrative duties to directly working with young people."The most fulfilling thing is a cadet arrive at the unit at 12 or 13 years old and seeing them leave at 17, 18, with a clear path of what they want to do with self-confidence, looking forward to being a good citizen," Sqn Ldr Taylor added. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The touching words Prince Philip told Harry before he left for the Afghanistan war - and he never forgot them
Seeing a family member deployed to war is an anxiety-inducing experience, especially for those who have served in the military so know the risks that lie ahead of their loved ones. Members of the Royal Family typically serve both honorary and frontline roles in the Armed Forces, including the late Queen, King Charles, Prince Edward and Prince Philip.
Edinburgh Live
10 hours ago
- Edinburgh Live
The creepy Edinburgh lodge with a dark secret unknown to those walking past
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Many will walk or drive past the former City Poorhouse on Edinburgh's Comiston Road every day and see it as nothing other than a sheltered housing block. However, before its redevelopment, it lay derelict and abandoned for some time, having opened in 1870 to provide a "comfortable home for the aged and poor," but that's not all it is remembered for. The building, number 144, is said to have attracted several "puzzled" looking people carrying paperwork during the 1970's and 80's according to a former resident - who revealed the building's dark secret. READ MORE - Edinburgh woman sues charity and earns £8k compensation payout over 'holiday row' READ MORE - Edinburgh's Sir Chris Hoy shares new update on 'death sentence' cancer diagnosis Situated adjacent to the City Hospital for infectious diseases, the poorhouse became Greenlea old people's home after the Second World War and has since been converted into apartments - yet its Victorian era legacy remains. Former Edinburgh resident Mike Ashworth lived in a property in Greenbank Terrace that overlooked the poorhouse's abandoned gatehouse throughout the 1970s and 80s and says it was not uncommon to see groups of people "looking puzzled" and carrying paperwork. Mr Ashworth believes the people may have been on the hunt for the former homes of their relatives and were likely unaware that their ancestors had either lived or been born at the poorhouse. As a policy by authorities to hide the stigma of extreme poverty, he says poorhouse children were registered as being born at 144 Comiston Road, misleadingly giving the impression that they resided at the handsome East Lodge. He told Edinburgh Live: "The small building on the corner of Comiston Drive, was one of two lodges adjacent to each other and served the parallel drives to the City Poorhouse and City Hospital respectively. "On many occasions you would see people, outside the old lodge at 144, looking puzzled and consulting paperwork and some days we'd nip across the road to ask if we could help, in case they were lost or required directions. "Frequently they would have copies of old birth or death certificates that showed the address on them but they could not quite believe that this small lodge squared with the other facts as they knew them. "I was eventually told by an older neighbour that they believed the reason was the poorhouse used the address of the Lodge on Comiston Road to complete documents and forms such as registration of births and deaths to hide the stigma of the poorhouse, such was its reputation." The City Hospital was opened by King Edward VII in 1903 and was closed as a hospital in 1999. The entire site has since been converted for residential use. East Lodge closed much earlier and was demolished in 1987 for a block of retirement flats called Greenbank House. For Mike Ashworth, his memories of Greenbank House are tinged with tragedy. He recalls how his mother witnessed a worker falling to his death while the building was under construction. Mr Ashworth, a retired London Underground worker, who now lives in West Yorkshire, said: "Despite local protests the lodge was bulldozed to allow the construction of the current four-story brick block of flats with only the stone wall and gate posts remaining. "However, during construction, the new building was the site of a fatal accident, witnessed from our front window by my mother, Bernice Ashworth. "One frosty morning, as the building was almost complete, a site worker had gone to roof level in a cherry picker, to access the roof. "Sadly he left the safety of the cherry picker and, on the icy, slippery roof he fell and plunged the four stories to his death. "The subject of a fatal accident inquiry at the Sheriff Court, my mother had to attend and give evidence. "All I recall was her screaming as I entered the front room, to see a blurred falling figure, but she had seen the whole tragic accident thinking some how the poor man would hold on somehow."
