VE Celebrations - Somewhere in England

[Robin (UK)]

On Friday, our street commemorated the 75th Anniversary of VE Day with music, dancing, a singalong and a day of socially distanced celebration.
My wife dressed as a Land Girl, my son wore US Navy uniform and I wore British Army (Middlesex Regt) battledress in honour of my great uncle, as we paraded around the road in our Plymouth.

Our neighbours gave us a rousing reception.
 

[48ply1stcar]

20 years in the US Army and never made it to the UK.  Love the pictures. We had no crelabrations of VE day, or sense of history.  Also you have a very pretty wife.

[Worden18]

You guys look fantastic!  And so does your car?

It's refreshing to know that your country keeps that date alive.  One must never forget.  

In my section of the woods in the states I have to remind everyone that it's Veterans Day...and Pearl Harbor Day too, etc.  People just simply don't care.  They don't even know simple WWII history.  They also don't even think about the men and women who fought (and died) to assure they could have the freedom to just forget about them and be arrogant about it as well. Pisses me off.  I had an uncle who was a bomber pilot in Europe.  He's been gone for 20 years now.  Sorry for the rant, but that kind of thing gets to me.  

Again, nice looking group!!?

[RobertKB]

Great looking celebration!! Glad to see all the Union Jacks are the right way up!

 

There was a minor celebration where I live in Canada but nothing like you had in the UK. People tend to forget but Britain and the Commonwealth withstood the full might of Hitler's Germany from June, 1940 and the defeat of France, until June, 1941 when the Soviet Union was attacked by Germany. Winning the Battle of Britain is the only thing that saved Britain from German invasion.

 

Both my parents are English and my mother had just given birth to my older brother 20 days before VE day. My father was in the Royal Army and was overseas in the far east, Malaya, and the war did not end properly for him until VJ day. He did not return home until mid April, 1946 arriving on my brother's first birthday and seeing him for the first time.

 

It is important to remember these times as they help put things in perspective. Coronavirus is bad but what we are being asked to do pales in comparison to the sacrifices of WWII.

Edited May 10, 2020 by RobertKB

[normanpitkin]

Speaking of the Commonwealth ,New Zealanders also contributed!

[RobertKB]

Great picture!

 

As did Canadians. 

Edited May 10, 2020 by RobertKB

[Sniper]

Nothing here, sad too.  I put in 10 years active duty in the USN.  Seen some things but I am not old enough to have been in WWII.   Did occasionally interface with the RN though.  Spent most of my time in the Mideast and the Pacific, just left the Gulf when Saddam invaded Kuwait so I was stateside for that.  I did get to play tag with the Iranians though, they lost.

[MackTheFinger]

Great pictures! The sacrifice and suffering that your nation endured during those days is humbling. One of my uncles spent some time there just before D-Day and often mentioned the hospitality he was shown. We Americans owe a debt of gratitude to all of you that is too seldom acknowledged. Thanks!!

[plymouthcranbrook]

6 hours ago, Worden18 said:

You guys look fantastic!  And so does your car?

It's refreshing to know that your country keeps that date alive.  One must never forget.  

In my section of the woods in the states I have to remind everyone that it's Veterans Day...and Pearl Harbor Day too, etc.  People just simply don't care.  They don't even know simple WWII history.  They also don't even think about the men and women who fought (and died) to assure they could have the freedom to just forget about them and be arrogant about it as well. Pisses me off.  I had an uncle who was a bomber pilot in Europe.  He's been gone for 20 years now.  Sorry for the rant, but that kind of thing gets to me.  

Again, nice looking group!!?

It’s not just WWII that people don’t know about or remember. It seems like anything that happened before last Tuesday is long gone unless it is what some rap artist wore at a concert five years ago.That they remember

[greg g]

Did Your son have a bosun's whistle?

[Sniper]

A machinist's mate with a bosun's pipe.

 

Interesting combo.

[48ply1stcar]

Lots of History I spent 20-years in the Army.  I father fought in Okinawa.  My mother's had three brothers, a sailor and two tankers.  Uncle Ken was in the Battle of the Bulge and married his English nurse, and my cousin was born in London during the bombing.  Prior to joining the Army I worked at Munnsingwear back when they made clothing in America.  It was 1969 and Vietnam was pretty hot and heavy.  My father died in 1967 and I was working at the company my father was when he died.  So I was talking to a friend of my father's at work about joining the Army.  He said, "I was in the Army", with my family I just shrugged.  "Do you want to see a picture of me in the Army" he said.  Sure, I replied.  He pulled out his wallet and showed me a picture of a very young man in his brand new uniform.  I Said, "Hans, you weren't on our side were you?"  One of my favorite stories that I told during my 20 years.

[Robin (UK)]

1 hour ago, greg g said:

Did Your son have a bosun's whistle?

No - he was blowing a wartime ARP whistle from my collection.
There's a video clip on my facebook page... 
 

 

[Sniper]

Being a Yank, what's an wartime ARP whistle ?

[RobertKB]

4 minutes ago, Sniper said:

Being a Yank, what's an wartime ARP whistle ?

Air Raid Precautions   
 

http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/war/wardens.htm

Edited May 10, 2020 by RobertKB

[SteveR]

I was big into the American Civil War re-enacting. I got a lot of stick from my ex about it. My family can be traced back to Massachusetts in 1638 so I had family members in the Revolution and Civil War. I asked her, "do you know what country fought  in the Civil War? Her response was, "How do I know?" I then asked her name 1 country that fought in the Revolutionary War? Again she didn't know and walked away from me.

I have since remarried to a wonderful English Wife. We put up the union Jack on our flagpole here in England. I then said I was going to also put up the American flag underneath it. She was a bit apprehensive but then I explained America was fighting in Europe too. She then thought it was a good Idea.

 

I love the way you have other nations represented with their flags 

 

Love the car and you guys look great!

[Pete]

A number of years ago I was working with a co-worker at a different site. We got to talking about WWII and I mentioned that my father and uncles had served. He said his father was in the war, too. I asked which branch. He said, "The Luftwaffe."

 

His father was a navigator on a German bomber. It was shot down over France and he spent the rest of the war in a POW camp in Monte Carlo! After the war he moved to the US.

 

After my mother died my father told me that she was an agent for the FBI during the war. She never said a thing about it. I had no idea.

 

Pete

 

[SteveR]

Pete, It's amazing what you find out about people.

 

I had a friend also into the Civil War. He and his wife happened upon a stand for 'The Daughter of the American Revolution.' Gene was talking to them and they asked if he knew of any one in his family that was in the Rev War? He said "No but my wife has." They were over the moon and wanted all the details. He said their eyes lit up. They asked him. 'does she know what regiment he fought under?' He replied, "Yes we do.". They were beside themselves and started telling them how you can get documents about her relative and that the Government is very helpful. They then asked, 'what regiment was he in.' Gene replied, "the 12th Highlanders" Their faces immediately turned to frowns because he fought for the British side.

[Sniper]

My wife got into researching her family tree and got all excited about Colonel William Bell, an ancestor, that was a United Empire Loyalist.  Till I pointed out that her family and mine probably fought each other and her side lost.  lol.  My family comes from the same general area of New York, or Nieuw Nederland as it was called when mine showed up, as her does.  She was not amused.

 

Funny thing is even though our ancestors lived in the same general area in the past I am not from there and we met in Tennessee, which neither of us is from.  We were both in the service and were at the same base for training, her to be an aviation structural mechanic and me at a radar school.  Just chance we met.

 

 

 

[Dan Hiebert]

Being the victors in 99.8% of our conflicts and wars, the U.S. tends to forget we had/have enemies, and allies for that matter.  But I also think we benefit from tending not to hold grudges.  The further back the war, the more the likelihood you'll encounter someone with relatives from the other side, (or an ally), that is now a relative, friend, neighbor, etc., and we don't think ill of it.  U.S. schools barely touch on military history anymore, so the idea of a VE day celebration or even recognition is remote in the U.S. My kids didn't learn any of the turning points or milestones in military history (which goes hand in hand with world history) in school, so they had no clue how they affected modern times worldwide.  They would wonder why some things are/were a certain way (i.e. European resistance to German reunification), so I'd make them research it. 

Edited May 12, 2020 by Dan Hiebert

[Stargrinder]

On 5/10/2020 at 7:28 PM, Robin (UK) said:

No - he was blowing a wartime ARP whistle from my collection.
There's a video clip on my facebook page... 
 

 

I love it.  That is great! ... or should I say brilliant!