Anyone Marking VE Day On Friday?

[BrandyandBabycham]

Apologies if there is an existing thread for this. We haven’t planned anything but DH saw a programme somewhere that you can follow, including afternoon tea in the garden & a singalong of “ We’ll Meet Again”. Is anyone celebrating?

I will be working. We had plans for residents to have a garden party but that out the window as they all confined to Thier rooms for foresable future.
I expect my neighbours will be out doing things in gardens. I don't see why the shouldn't if they want breaks up the monatany of lockdown for them.

And it has nothing to do with Brexit. If anything it helps us remember how we need to stay friendly and not at odds with each other

Unfortunately, WW2 is very much still used by certain Brexiteers and certain media outlets to create a them and us, Britain stood alone, Dunkirk spirit, Blitz spirit, plucky nation kind of image.

There are a lot of lessons from WW2 and the rise of hatred that we can learn from then, but are still being forgotten.

I don’t feel comfortable about it - for every person celebrating there would have been someone crying.

Just in case they don't tell you, VE didn't mark the end of rationing. It kept on. And then, when we set up the NHS , we needed to import furrin workers to make that happen.

Absolutely fucking not. Jingoistic shite.

It certainly reminds us how hubristic nationalism, whipped-up fear and a nasty lurch towards right-wing authoritarianism can go appallingly wrong.

That ^ with bloody great bells on.

I very much doubt visiting the site of the death of millions will change my mind into wanting to sing and dance and hang out the bunting. I find it very peculiar that you use an extermination camp to justify street parties. Very peculiar indeed.

You don't think that the end of the death camps and the defeat of the ideology that was responsible for the deaths of millions is worth celebrating?

Now that is disturbing.

WW2 is very much still used by certain Brexiteers and certain media outlets to create a them and us, Britain stood alone, Dunkirk spirit, Blitz spirit, plucky nation kind of image.

Exactly.

Spoke to my neighbours in the back garden at a safe distance last night. He spoke to the neighbour next to them. I messaged someone who lives across the road in our street and now we are all having afternoon tea in our front gardens at 4pm tomorrow, being sociable from a distance and possibly singing at 9pm. I have printed off some bunting templates and my daughter has coloured it in. And i have some more precoloured bunting to print off. Its just something to do on a bank holiday after our exercise.

Bunting up. Will have a BBQ in back garden whilst listening to 40s music on Amazon.

You don't think that the end of the death camps and the defeat of the ideology that was responsible for the deaths of millions is worth celebratin

If only the ideology had been defeated. Given the state of the world at the moment, I don't think it really has.

And I have no doubt people like Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins will be tweeting about it.

The very same people who have fuck all sympathy for people fleeing persecution at the moment. And who demonise people who they see as 'other'.

WW2 is very much still used by certain Brexiteers and certain media outlets to create a them and us, Britain stood alone, Dunkirk spirit, Blitz spirit, plucky nation kind of image.

Yes, I agree. DC and I are having afternoon tea, and I'll talk about remembrance and how we need to maintain the peace that came. But celebrate? I don't think it's appropriate now.

@PhoneLock , there were still death camps in the Far East until VJ Day. I'll mark that.

Bellinisurge, I'm with you.

Yes I will be commemorating. I’m a 30 something, Remain voting, liberal leftie. I’ve done no clapping for carers. I don’t fit your gammon nationalist Brexit stereotype. But I do think this is worth marking. That the day has been marred by the lockdown does bring me sadness.

I grew up living with my GM and her stories of the War and the WAAF, my DD was a soldier and served in our most recent wars. I care deeply about not forgetting and go to the Imperial War Museum roughly every 18 months. WW2 was one of the few wars where we really were fighting for something worth fighting for, can’t say that about many of them. Ending it IS something to celebrate. War is a nasty business and I don’t look back with rose tinted specs, millions sacrificed for that cause (and I absolutely include all those from other nations who fought with us, this isn’t woop look at us special Brits)

I will stick bunting up, I will make afternoon tea (a far more fancy one than they would have had with rationing I’m sure!) and I will enjoy looking back. I will pop out and social distance nod at my neighbours. I may even sing. It feels important to me.

And I’ll commentate VJ Day when it comes, I know VE Day wasn’t the end of the war.

No.

I have no family links with the military, so anything like this doesn’t really feel like it’s appropriate for me to participate in. Obviously, I can understand why people with close military connections might feel differently and I respect that.

Also, I hate nationalism of any kind. I‘m lucky enough to have several good German friends, I greatly admire modern Germany 🇩🇪 and I wouldn’t want to participate in anything which they might consider disrespectful. We should have moved on from commemorating the war many years ago.

No, I'll be working a 13 hour shift.

Would have been great to be in central London for the original though.

No, I find it all quite uncomfortable. I don’t think there will be many people in Scotland doing this. The whole thing reeks of Brexit propaganda.

Yes, no red, white or blue clothing left - I've cut it up and sewn it into bunting - feels just like rationing/makedoandmend.

We are having a 'tea party' all in our own gardens.

We’re going to make a pie for Peace In Europe day. As well as doing my daughter's history project.

No i cerainly will not.
It's comforting to me that I am not the only one who finds it all uncomfortable and will be nicking the wonderful phrase 'doorstep wankery'

*And I have no doubt people like Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins will be tweeting about it.

The very same people who have fuck all sympathy for people fleeing persecution at the moment*

This.

We probably celebrate VE Day, because for those of us within range of the bombers, V1s and V2s knew that we were now safe. My aunt took me up to Buckingham Palace on VJ Day. We all chanted, "We Want The King," until the Royal Family came onto the balcony.

They asked DH tonight to remind me about VE Day tomorrow and out of respect make sure I take part on the driveway and perhaps bake a special cake (I'm known on on the road for my baking, get asked to make children's birthday cakes..etc) the cheek of them
DH is a lot more shy than me so backed away slowly into the house smiling..

@FuzzyPuffling it sounds like your Dad would have got on well with mine. Very similar experiences and beliefs here. He only fought because he believed the destruction of facism was a righteous cause. He wasn't fighting out of a sense of patriotism. In fact he wouldn't even sing hymns like Jerusalem and I Vow to Thee My Country in Church as he considered then jingoistic. In his later years he became very involved in the campaign to pardon those shot for desertion in WW1 and he had sent his medals back years ago, as did my Grandad who fought in WW1.
To be honest I am really glad that my Dad isn't here any more as he would be horrified at the current political situation. Because he served in the Far East I feel more inclined to commemorate VJ but that seems to get glossed over in this country. But I had uncles who served in Europe (my grandparents must have had very mixed feelings) so I do intend to mark VE Day, but not with bunting and communal singing. I've decided to look at some WW2 history and do some wartime cookery with my kids. It will be interesting and looking at what was available and in what quantities will be educational for them. It certainly puts the "shortages" due to coronavirus into perspective..