Something for the Weekend - Marking VE Day

These days it’s hard to remember what day of the week it is. There are no swim or gym sessions, no football, no club nights to set the markers for the week. The change of day for the May Day Bank holiday (announced last June) caused further confusion in many a home but the change was for a good reason. This Friday, 8 May, will mark the 75th Anniversary of VE Day, the end of the Second World War in Europe.

The three-day holiday weekend will be a little different to the celebrations that were planned across the UK as we are all being asked to commemorate the day on the ‘home front’ -#StayHomeSaveLives.

A two-minute silence will be held at 11.00am on Friday and the Queen will send a message to the nation and at 9.00pm there will be a doorstep sing along of Dame Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again – the lyrics, strangely poignant given the times we live. At 7.00pm church bells across the nation will be rung.

We are all encouraged to have our own VE Day party – at home of course. If you are tired of all that bread you, or your loved ones, have been making at home, you can find a 1945 inspired party buffet menu here which features VE Day inspired Muscovado Flapjacks by Prue Leith.

And no party is complete without out music so don’t forget to check out the big band and jazz playlist on Spotify – Everything from Glenn Miller’s In the Mood to Doris Day’s Sentimental Journey.

All UK historical records will available on ancestry.co.uk (insert link) will be free for the public from Monday 4 May until Sunday 10 May, giving people the opportunity to uncover the personal stories of the Second World War and the roles their families played.

For a full list of how you can get involved including scheduled programmes, click here

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