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?

No one’s saying it’s not an important time in our history, but you also can’t ignore that it’s been high jacked by the extreme right who are using it to push their own agenda.

So many people in this country are still obsessed with the wars and the empire and even the bloody 1966 World Cup. It’s embarrassing, I don’t think any other nation on earth wallows in the past so much.

No one’s saying it’s not an important time in our history, but you also can’t ignore that it’s been high jacked by the extreme right who are using it to push their own agenda

This.

Also right now it's a very handy distraction from the failings of our government, which is responsible for the needless deaths of thousands.

DC want to, so I've put up some bunting and have a cake. We'll do tea and cake in the front garden at 4pm and catch up with our lovely neighbours and nod to the less lovely ones.

I think there is an enormous difference between remembering (and maybe learning) and partying.

I don’t think any other nation on earth wallows in the past so much.
But we are constantly reminded of Britain's colonial past etc. So it's ok to remember and learn from some parts of our history but not others?

Right wing agenda, my grandad would whoop your backside for saying this. He and my granny a nurse were in the war in London, he would say you were spoilt stupid women for assigning politics to this. For them it was real daily, their children shipped out to Cheshire, spending nights guiding people to shelters, their days digging out the bodies and the injured which granny nursed. Unbelievable food shortages, bet none of you know what a roof rabbit was that went into the pot.

Your virtue signalling woke attitudes would have my grandparents rolling their eyes. Today if they were still with us they would be making sandwiches, cakes, bunting, and standing with pride.

Oh and six years of war followed by further years of rationing. My mother did not even know what an orange was when they finally appeared.

I've put bunting up and might listen to Churchill with the kids as it is a historic event (and the older I get the more important history seems to me, and I feel uncomfortable that a war of such magnitude and hatred took place within living memory, what horror we are capable of as a species).
My mum, who was bombed out, was 7 when the war ended, and one of her grandchildren is 7 on this 75th anniversary year, which seems nicely apt.
I don't see it as embarrassing towards Germany, in my opinion, Germany didn't lose the war, the Nazis lost the war.

Er, we did defeat nazism, surely we can celebrate that! IMO today is a day of grateful Remembrance, and acknowledging that we did come through that awful time thanks to the blood and sacrifice of our men & the hard work of this who were at home.

No. I will celebrate International Workers Day instead.

@chomalungma, spot on.

I'm more than a little concerned about the nasty lurch towards authoritarian right-wing nationalism, coupled with the deliberate undermining of the rule of law and a cavalier disregard for truth and evidence-based policy making. And those things go in only one direction during times of economic dislocation. I don't think we should be too self-congratulatory about our place in history. Looking from anywhere outside the UK, and from a lot of places within it, we're in trouble.

Yes we are marking VE day for my Gran who recently passed away aged 98, she was an WAAF plotter and was given an OBE by the Queen in later years for her efforts and courage. We've been to the war memorial and her grave this morning to remember a formidable lady who I miss greatly so yes I will celebrate today and celebrate what she and others did for the Country Im getting married as soon as possible (our wedding was cancelled because of the virus) and as I inherited Gran's WAAF cap with badge I'm going to try and incorporate the badge into my outfit and will be proud to wear it.

Oh and Katie Hopkins can fuck right off

I'm more than a little concerned about the nasty lurch towards authoritarian right-wing nationalism,
But there isn't a nasty lurch to the right, you just think there is.
Or there is a nasty lurch to the right, I just don't think there is.
Take your pick, it's meaningless.

I think there is an enormous difference between remembering (and maybe learning) and partying.

This. Earlier my neighbours were out on the road with all the younger children out having bike races and dancing to reach for the stars and other such traditional songs relating to VE day. I'd love to know how much they actually learnt about VE day.

Or there is a nasty lurch to the right, I just don't think there is

I suppose it depends what your experiences are - and what you see.

If we were in school normally we'd have been having a 'street' party on the playground and doing related activities. So instead I've been putting on VE Day activities on our home learning today and this week, covering most subject areas. School is actually closed today - our emergency childcare wasn't required today for some reason - though we aren't officially closed, as we did offer childcare. Hence still posting.

At home we aren't really, no, except that I've only done school work this morning (I set some stuff up in advance using the scheduled features of our social media and learning platform and then just acknowledging pupil posts in response though not really commenting today as such) and Dh hasn't been working today at all - we are both working from home normally. The afternoon tea we've been ordering had sold out so that's not coming now til Sunday. We don't have VE Day bunting - though I do normally have other bunting in the garden anyway. Mil, who is with us for the lockdown duration, will probably want to watch the queens speech I'd have thought. That's about it.

Oh do fuck off justasking111 pretty much all of us had grandparents or great grandparents who fought in the war. My grandfather was a WW2 vet who lived until his late 90’s, he hated Boris and would be spinning in his grave now if he knew that the cretin was running the country.

Ironic how some are marking the day by doing exactly what.

They want.

Right wing agenda, my grandad would whoop your backside for saying this. He and my granny a nurse were in the war in London, he would say you were spoilt stupid women for assigning politics to this.

Was he always so misogynistic?

I can recommend the 30 min Katherine Jenkins VE Day 75 concert without an audience at the Royal Albert Hall. It's free on YouTube.

This thread is completely depressing. Thank goodness for some uplifting music!

Mmmm War is a bit depressing, isn't it!

Thanks very much for your kind comments about my Dad way up thread @FuzzyPuffling
I've not been on here today as my plan to cook WW2 authentic recipes from scratch and with no labour saving devices proved both challenging and time consuming . It was fun and educational though,and the results were, even if I say so myself, surprisingly good.
Yes, my Dad was very principled. After the war he worked in the welfare system and he was always passionate about supporting disadvantaged people. Sometimes he was too principled perhaps as it could be very hard to live up to his standards. I have to confess that as a child I didn't always value him as much as I probably should have. My parents had me relatively late in life and I sometimes felt that they were restrictive and behind the times, but when I got older I began to realise how lucky I was.
I found myself feeling surprisingly emotional today actually, given that I didn't really want to get involved. I think it was the combination of making recipes that I remember doing with my Mum as a child and hearing songs on the radio that my Dad used to sing me to sleep with. I am glad that my Dad can't see the world now. So much of what he fought against is being revived, a lot of things close to his heart are being destroyed and he would hate the generalisations that have been made about his generation in the media in recent times. I hope the day passed peacefully for you and that you were able to reflect on happy memoriesof your Dad.

We got an invite to our neighbours garden party.
They’ve lived here a couple of years and I’d never met them
Had a fab time. I dressed in 40s clothes.
We had quizzes and drinks
Dh got pissed and Was in bed by 9pm
Had a great day
Really lifted the mood

@Dowser Do you mean that the neighbours invited people into their garden for a party rather than everyone being in their own front gardens/driveways and being able to see each other and shout across? What about social distancing?