Tomorrow, Friday 8th May, it is VE Day, and people will be celebrating all over the country.

VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day, is the day when, 75 years ago,the Allied Forces won over Germany during World War II . Although this day is considered to be the end of the war in Europe, World War II did not end until September 2nd 1945 when fighting ended in Japan.

On Tuesday May 8th, 1945, at 3pm, the man who was Prime Minister at the time, Winston Churchill, made an announcement on the radio that Germany had finally surrendered and the fighting across Europe had finished.

 

People were very happy that the fighting had stopped in Europe, and many of them dressed in red, white and blue and celebrated with parties on the streets. Crowds of people went to stand and cheer outside Buckingham Palace as King George VI and his family came to stand out on the balcony to greet them.

 

Did you know that during the War, Queen Elizabeth II was still a Princess. On VE Day, Princess Elizabeth  and her younger sister Princess Margaret were able to go and celebrate with the crowds, although they had to go secretly so that no one knew who they were. How do you think they felt being able to go out like that?

 

Below are some websites that you can look at with your grown ups to find out more about VE Day, and to see some ways that you could celebrate at home with your family. You could make some cakes and decorate them with red, white and blue icing.

 

You could make some flags and fly them in your garden.

You could wear red, white and blue clothes for the day.

During World War II, a famous singer called  Vera Lynn recorded songs that helped  to keep the spirits of everyone up. The soldiers who were fighting a long way from home listened to her songs and they reminded them of home and their loved ones.  Below are the youtube links for 2 of her most famous songs

Meanwhile, let's learn a song especially for VE Day. Think about some of the words in the song and how important they are to us today in these times:- 'What can we do when our friends and families are so far away?'

Thinks about the thigs that you can do with your family to 'Keep calm and carry on'.

Enjoy your VE Day celebrations, and as Dame Vera Lynn sang so many years ago

'We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when,

But we'll meet again some sunny day'

Mrs McGrath