Don’t forget VE Day 2015
The VE day anniversaries in May and August next year will be the last major anniversaries when WW2 veterans and those who also served will be with us in some numbers.
Are we going to let the VE Day anniversary pass without national commemoration and, on this occasion, some degree of celebration?
The government, having spent £50 million on commemorating the 100th anniversary of WW1 – producing excellent coverage – failed to spend a penny on any funded national commemorations at the time of the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Thank goodness for the French and the superb coverage from the BBC.
The parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, Anna Soubry says: “The 70th anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day will have significant resonance in the UK. No specific plans have yet been developed, but this is something that we will be turning our attention to in the coming months.”
I certainly hope so and am calling on the Government to fund national commemorations at the time of the 70th anniversary of VE Day and to declare May 8, 2015 a public holiday.
This will allow us to offer thanks one last time in many cases while this and future generations will better understand the sacrifice, bravery and sense of duty of our ‘finest generation’.
Sign the petition. Search change.org for VE Day. At the time of writing it is the first result.
Neil Coppendale, Church Green, Shoreham-by-Sea
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