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South Wales Argus
09-05-2025
- General
- South Wales Argus
80 years of VE Day honoured in Newport's Edward German Crescent
80 years since Victory in Europe Day was honoured at an event put on by Newport Council and the Royal British Legion. This year's VE Day was particularly significant as it marks 80 years since Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender against allied forces in 1945. The event put on yesterday (May 8) was held at Queen Elizabeth II Playing Field in Edward German Crescent. Many members of the public and armed forces personnel showed up to pay respect and acknowledge the end of war in Europe. Lord Lieutenant of Gwent Robert Aitken 68 at the VE Day event in Edward German Crescent (Image: NQ) Speaking of the event Lord Lieutenant of Gwent Robert Aitken 68 said: "It's fabulous that Newport is doing this, it's very important for us all to remember the sacrifices that were made by people 80 plus years ago meant for us all. "It's terribly important that we remember the service that is given by our men and women that is given in the armed forces." Standard Bearers Anne-Marie Cobley 52 and Graham Smith 81 stood with Lord Lieutenant of Gwent Robert Aitken 68 (Image: NQ) 81-year-old Graham Smith Standard Bearer for The Royal Welsh Newport regiment was able to recall what post war life was like for people in Gwent. He said: "Well obviously we are very proud to be here as coming from my age as it is we remember the tail end of the war. "I remember the hard living the battle books and having to live on what we were allowed to purchase. So, we remember all that. "More so, we remember family members that went away and never came home. There were a lot of people in Newport that in my family and other people at the time that suited up and never came home. "Coming here is just our tribute to them to say thank you for putting your lives on the line and defending us and letting us have the life we've got today.' Newport Male Voice Choir at the VE Day event in Edward German Crescent (Image: NQ) A range of entertainment was provided. Wartime songs such as Vera Lyne's 'We'll Meet Again' and 'White Cliffs of Dover' were played. Newport Male Voice Choir also put on a selection of Welsh and war themed hymns. Choir Master Marc Main 61 said: 'We are very proud to support the event a lot of us are ex forces. I'm ex RAF myself." The lit beacon paying tribute to 80 years of VE Day (Image: NQ) The main event however was a national beacon lighting that took place at 9:30pm and was held at VE Day events across the country. The significant moment was followed by a moments silence to reflect then the Welsh National Anthem. Standard Bearers Anne-Marie Cobley 52 and Graham Smith 81 in front of the lit beacon (Image: NQ) John Griffths MS for Newport East Said: 'Everybody's so conscious of the need to remember the sacrifices that were made during the second world war, so we can have the way of life that we hold so precious today." "I think today the world can be such a dangerous place and there are so many wars so today that crucial message of peace is a big part of this."
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
VE Day events honour last generation of WW2 veterans
Royals, politicians and veterans gathered at Westminster Abbey on Thursday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the World War Two in Europe - on what could be the last major VE Day attended by veterans. When the clock struck noon, they joined the crowd of around 1,800 in standing for a two-minute silence that was observed across the UK. The King and the Prince of Wales laid wreaths with notes saying "we will never forget" and "we will remember them" at the grave of the Unknown Warrior. Days of events to honour the last generation of war veterans and urge peace in the present were observed, with Winston Churchill's great-great-grandson issuing a call to "pray for peace in Europe". As night fell over London, VE Day celebrations continue with a live concert at Horse Guards Parade, attended by 10,000 people. The King addressed the audience after a series of musical performances. He reminded all that as the wartime generation diminishes, the duty falls on the public to carry their stories forward just as communities across the country have done all week in countless acts of remembrance. The King also said that while we rejoice, "we must also remember those" who are "still fighting, still living with conflict and starvation on the other side of the world". Before the concert earlier in the day, MPs and peers re-enacted a historic walk from Parliament to the abbey that had taken place when victory in Europe was declared in 1945. After the laying of wreaths and a welcome, an excerpt of Winston Churchill's speech announcing the unconditional surrender of Germany rang throughout the abbey. The former prime minister's great-great-grandson, Alexander Churchill, 10, lit a candle for peace and invited people to "pray for peace in Europe and around the world". Children handed veterans white roses, while service members carried conflict artefacts, including a child's gas mask. A singer performed the White Cliffs of Dover, written during the war, among other songs. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer delivered a reading from the Bible, while others read memoirs and re-dedications to peace. In a message to the crowd, the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell thanked those "whose sacrifice made our victory possible". "All this good is under threat again in our world today," he said. "Let us then, on this 80th anniversary, with some of the veterans who fought for those freedoms with us here, make a new commitment to be those who, in the words of Jesus, make peace." Watch VE Day 80 celebrations live Three women's bittersweet memories of VE Day After the service, royals greeted and chatted to World War Two veterans, some of whom were in wheelchairs and decorated with medals. Among the guests was Harry Winter, a 103-year-old RAF veteran. He told the BBC he was shot down over Germany in January 1945 and held as a prisoner of war until VE Day five months later. While in captivity, he had to walk 150 miles in 17 days without any food, pushing cattle trucks in extremely cold temperatures, he said. On 8 May 1945, he was met by American trucks and crossed out of Germany. "I just felt, 'I'm free! I can do as I like again! I can go around without anybody trying to hold me back'," he said. After the service, members of the Royal Family walked to lay bouquets at the Innocent Victims' Memorial - which commemorates all those who have suffered death, torture and oppression throughout the world - outside the abbey. The flowers were picked on Wednesday on the grounds of Windsor Castle and the surrounding estate - and included rosemary representing remembrance, oak for longevity and endurance, and bluebells for gratitude. Westminster Abbey's bells then pealed 80 times to remember the years since the first VE Day. Speaking outside Westminster Abbey, D-Day veteran Peter Kent said it meant "a lot" to see people still honouring those who served. The 100-year-old, from Westminster, served in the Royal Navy aboard HMS Adventurer and took part in the Normandy landings. The father-of-two said: "So many young boys got killed, so many dead bodies on the beach - it was just a big waste of life. It was terrible. We wouldn't have the freedom we have today if it wasn't for those men." At 18:30 BST, churches and cathedrals across the country will ring their bells, which the Church of England says will echo the sounds that swept across the country in 1945. A massive concert is planned for 20:00 from Horse Guards Parade in London, with 10,000 people expected to attend. Celebrations are likely to continue until late into the night, with pubs and bars given permission to stay open for two extra hours. Earlier, in Scotland, the national piper played a lament at dawn for the fallen on Portobello Beach in Edinburgh, and a convoy of Norwegian fishing boats is travelling to Shetland to commemorate the "Shetland Bus" operation that rescued many refugees during the war. Northern Ireland is marking VE Day with a series of events, including a tea dance at Belfast City Hall. In Wales, attendees at church services observed silence and laid wreaths, and a knitted poppy cascade of 1,000 individual flowers was displayed outside the veterans' hub in Connah's Quay. In the afternoon, the Royal British Legion hosted a tea party with veterans at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, England. Westminster Abbey's service brought together veterans from different generations. Jason Webb, a Royal Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan, was wearing his medals and those of both his grandfathers who served in World War Two. "I felt very emotional during the service," he said. Outside the abbey, crowds of citizens gathered to show their respect, including Angela from Glasgow, who took the day off work to attend. "It is important to recognise the sacrifices, it's important to stand up for the troops," she said. Standing among the crowd, she added: "I'm proud to be British." The 80th anniversary celebrations of VE day began on Monday with a military procession and Red Arrows flypast, with thousands lining the Mall near Buckingham Palace to watch. An exhibit of nearly 30,000 ceramic poppies was also unveiled at the Tower of London. Additional reporting by Rachel Hagan, Sean Coughlin, Ashitha Nagesh and Gabriela Pomeroy VE Day at 80: What's to come - and what you might have missed Candles, wreaths, famous faces: VE Day at 80 in pictures
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wales falls silent to mark VE day anniversary
A two-minute silence was held across Wales to remember those who fought in World War Two. At 12:00 BST, people across the country joined the national two minutes of silence to mark VE Day. Across Wales, events have been taking place to commemorate 80 years since the end of war in Europe. Beacons will be lit, family fun days and afternoon teas are taking place to celebrate. I partied outside Buckingham Palace on VE Day 101-year-old WW2 codebreakers reunite for VE Day Wales marks 80th anniversary of VE Day In Cardiff, Members of the Senedd observed the silence along with the rest of the UK. At a service at Christ Church in Swansea, four school groups from across the city performed songs including White Cliffs of Dover and Calon Lan. Veteran Richard Pelzer laid a wreath on behalf of Blind Veterans UK and veterans from more recent conflicts were also invited, with more than 40 in attendance. In Wrexham, events took place across the city with a service held in St Giles Church. A special assembly with afternoon tea to follow will be held in Ysgol Glan Gele, Abergele, Conwy. Pupils from Christchurch Primary School, who were part of the service in Swansea, shared how happy they were to meet some of the veterans. Millie said she had never seen a veteran before, and it was "so cool". While Duaa said: "It felt really special to be able to meet people who were in World War Two." Amélie said: "It was surprising they were so young. If it was still the war my siblings would have been in the army and it would have been very scary. "It gave me a different perspective." The Veterans and Community Hub's Models for Heroes group had a drop-in at the Labour and Social Club in Connah's Quay, Flintshire. The group presented numerous models of tanks and cake to mark the anniversary. In Newquay, Ceredigion, a service was held in the Memorial Hall with commemorative flag raising ceremony held after. There will be a lighting of Bonfire Beacon with viewing from Glyn Square at 21:30 BST. In Monmouthshire, the day started off with the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers flag raising, followed by a tree planting on the town field. In the afternoon, a public service will be held at the Monmouth Castle followed by a lighting of the Monmouth Landmark in the evening. The events taking taking place coincided with a thanksgiving service held at Westminster Abbey. The King and Queen, as well as the prime minister and other senior royals, were in attendance. Thousands of people will then gather for a concert at Horse Guards Parade to cap four days of marking the end of World War Two in Europe VE Day events recall the huge crowds of people who took to the streets on 8 May 1945 to sing, dance and rejoice after nearly six years of war.
Daily Mirror
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'My mum Dame Vera Lynn did incredible things in her final years but she never sang - not once'
It is five years since we sadly lost Dame Vera Lynn, but carrying on her famous parent's charity work, Virginia Lewis-Jones speaks to Siobhan McNally about the nation's Force's Sweetheart, and downsizing after a life-time of memories Dame Vera Lynn's dear friend Sir Harry Secombe once joked that, 'Churchill didn't beat the Nazis. Vera sang them to death.' Which wasn't too far from the truth because, when touring Burma in 1944 to boost morale among war weary troops, the 'Forces' Sweetheart' was so close to the battle lines as the Japanese advanced on India, her rich contralto voice would have floated over the entrenched enemy lines. 'Japanese soldiers could only have been three miles away while she was singing – they would definitely have heard her,' explains Dame Vera's daughter Virginia Lewis-Jones, as we look at old military snaps in her book about her mother, Keep Smiling Through. Not many entertainers would go somewhere as dangerous as Burma, and it was Vera's bravery that won her an army of fans at war and back home. Her three-month stint in the jungle must have affected her deeply, because she spent a lifetime raising funds for veterans and their families. We're sitting in her daughter's conservatory on a cloudy day, as patches of blue poke through the greyness – enough to, as Virginia says, 'Make a sailor's shirt'. Birthday cards and vases of colourful blooms mark Virginia's 79th. But the pretty bungalow has the squished feel of someone who has just downsized. 'We sold Mummy's house last year – it was far too big for just the two of us,' explains Virginia. It must have been difficult as only child to leave the houseful of memories but, clearly a chip off the old block, Virginia only admits to missing the swimming pool. 'I just use the local spa instead,' she shrugs. Virginia lost her father first in 1998, which was a terrible blow. But it brought the mother and daughter even closer. Now the fifth anniversary of her mother's death is looming, alongside the nation's marking of 80 years of the end of the Second World War. Having celebrated her 100th birthday with great fanfare, a new album, birthday wishes from her friend, the late Queen Elizabeth II, and an incredible cake of the White Cliffs of Dover, Dame Vera passed away, aged 103, from pneumonia in June 2020. 'Mummy's brain was still very active, it was just, you know, she got very frail,' recalls Virginia. Now living a mile or so from where her parents are buried in the village churchyard, Virginia and her husband Tom, 84, have squeezed a lifetime's memorabilia of both their extraordinary lives, as well as Dame Vera's, into their cottage. There's not an inch of space left on the walls, where Virginia's paintings hang among many others – a hobby inherited from her mother – or among the busy shelves full of Tom's collections from his RAF career, vintage ceramics and artefacts from his passion for palaeontology. After growing up in Finchley, North London, Virginia moved to Ditchling, East Sussex, as a teenager with her parents, Vera Lynn and Harry Lewis. Her saxophonist father so successfully managed his wife's singing career after the war, that she never went out of fashion. Famously appearing on stage, aged 68, with rock band Hawkwind in an anti-drugs concert, she was also immortalised in Pink Floyd's moving song Vera on their album The Wall. VE Day: 80th Anniversary Magazine Specials To commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, we bring you two special special collector's magazines that look back at events that led to the end of World War II in Europe and marked a new era. In the VE Day 80: Anniversary Collector's Edition we share photographs from the street parties that were held all over Britain, while esteemed author and journalist Paul Routledge paints a picture of how the day was bittersweet, mixed with jubilation and hope for the future, as well as sadness and regret for the past. Routledge also recounts the key events of the Second World War, including Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and Pearl Harbour. The magazine costs £9.99. Also available is World War Two - A History in 50 Photographs, a definitive pictorial account of the war. Carefully chosen from hundreds of thousands of images, this commemorative magazine shares 50 exceptional photographs - including many rarely seen shots - that capture the devastating moments, horror, hope and eventual triumph of World War Two. The magazine costs £6.99. 'Oh Mummy thought the whole thing was hysterical,' laughs Virginia, who shared her mother's birthday month. 'Yes I've just had my 79th and Mummy's birthday – or Mama as I called her – is the 20th,' nods Virginia, when we meet in March. 'I sounded so much like her that when I answered the phone, people thought it was Mummy,' she chuckles. Squadron leader Tom's going a bit deaf, and is not as steady on his feet after a stroke 18 months ago, but their lives are busy and fulfilled. They are, sadly, mourning the recent loss of their beloved pet. 'We discovered our 15-year-old Jack Russell Digby had a 10cm tumour in his spleen last month,' says Virginia. 'He got ill very suddenly and the vet suggested we didn't bring him home. So you know, one minute he was here, and then next minute… gone…' Virginia has a step family from Tom's side and a large number of relatives. Many have worn uniforms and served their country. 'Must be something in the family!' she adds. Chatting to Virginia, it is unnervingly like talking to Dame Vera herself and their family resemblance is remarkable. When watching one of the three war films her mother made, Tom once remarked to his wife: 'Oh God – she's just like you.' Friends in the country call her Ginny, but she reveals: 'Mummy called me Verge – I hated it, but just put up with it. The family still calls me Verge.' Despite growing up as the daughter of one of the most famous women of the 20th century, Virginia led a very normal life - although she was allowed to attend when her mother threw showbiz parties at home. 'I was allowed to serve canapés to guests, and I always remember at one of her parties there was a cowboy called Tex Ritter,' she says. 'I was into ponies at the time and I asked him, 'Did you bring your horse with you?'' The singing cowboy, who used to star with his horse White Flash, replied kindly to the little English girl. 'He said, 'No honey, I couldn't bring him over with me unfortunately.'' Along with Secombe, Virginia reveals: 'Mummy and Spike Milligan were very friendly.' The daughter of an East Ham plumber and dressmaker, a young Vera Margaret Welch began singing publicly aged seven, before taking her grandmother's maiden name Lynn. During the Blitz, she would sing to scared people sheltering from bombs in London's tube stations. But her BBC radio series, Sincerely Yours, which kept the soldiers at the front in touch with their loved ones at home, was what made her a household name. An ex BBC researcher, Virginia reveals: 'The BBC at the time thought it was too emotive, which was bonkers. Anyway, Mummy carried on – she just felt that forces fighting abroad needed to know their families were okay, and vice versa. She brought families together.' Interestingly, Vera never learned to read music, while Virginia was made to learn piano and guitar as a girl because of her musician father. It's probably just as well she couldn't, in her words 'hold a tune', because she would have forever been compared to Vera. Instead, she worked in fashion and as a researcher at the BBC. 'I worked on Parkinson and also Crackerjack! I got into trouble with the lovely Floella – now Baroness Benjamin – who'd just had her long plaits done,' she laughs. 'I told them they mustn't splurge her, but the message didn't get through – and she was absolutely furious!' Dame Vera's final official public performance was at a VE Day 50th anniversary concert in Hyde Park, London, when she was 78 in 1995. According to Virginia she never sang again, not even at home. 'She never sang privately,' says Virginia firmly. 'Never once.' Instead, she kept herself very busy with her painting hobby, completing over 400 watercolour and oil artworks, which have all been archived in a catalogue. 'Her botanical art was especially fine,' says Virginia, showing me some of her favourite paintings in the catalogue. 'And she used to do tapestry – her mother, Nana, was a court dressmaker, you know.' When we meet, Virginia and Tom have just returned from a few weeks on France's Cote-d'Azur in their holiday flat in the seaside resort of Golfe-Juan, which she inherited from her parents. Dame Vera, whose many accolades included being made a Companion of Honour in the late Queen's 90th birthday honours, was deeply touched to be made an honorary citizen of St Sever in Normandy. 'There's a memorial in the town to an English bomber crew who were shot down, but refused to bail so they could fly clear of a school full of children below,' explains Virginia. 'The memorial is inscribed, 'They gave their youth in St Sever so that peace could flourish in Europe'.' Looking after her mother's legacy is a full time job – or as Virginia calls it, 'Running the business!' She still receives letters from all over the world, and is very active in the running of Dame Vera Lynn's Children's Charity. 'Mummy was so important – and is still important – to so many people because of all the work she did, and not just during the war, she made millions for charities, you know,' says Virginia, proudly. An appeal for a permanent memorial to Dame Vera by sculptor Paul Day was launched by Sir David Amess before he was killed in a shocking attack at his MP surgery in Basildon, Essex, in 2021, and is yet to reach the £1.5m needed. A statue to the Forces' Sweetheart seems the very least the nation can do for someone who was described as, 'One of two women who exemplified the spirit of the 20th century – Her Majesty the Queen and Dame Vera Lynn.' Or as Virginia puts it in her plain-speaking way: 'Mummy was a whizzy-widget really. What you saw is what you got.' • Please donate to the Dame Vera statue fund at
Daily Mail
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Keir Starmer backs campaign for £1.5million memorial to 'Forces Sweetheart' Dame Vera Lynn by the White Cliffs of Dover ahead of VE Day
Keir Starmer has given his backing to a new £1.5million memorial remembering World War Two 'Forces Sweetheart' Dame Vera Lynn. A campaign is underway for a likeness of the wartime singer to be created and placed near the White Cliffs of Dover, which inspired one of her biggest hits. Organisers hope to unveil the work in Kent this summer, five years since she passed away at the age of 103. Conservative MP Mark Francois raised the campaign, which has been supported by the Daily Mail, at Prime Minister's Question Time today. It was initiated by the late MP Sir David Amess, his close friend who was killed in 2021. Appealing to the PM for support, Mr Francois noted it is the 80th anniversary of VE Day next week, telling the Commons 'no one did more to maintain their morale in adversity' in wartime Britain than Dame Vera. 'They now have a stunning design, they have a site – appropriately at Dover – and they have already raised three-quarters of the funding that they would need,' he told MPs. 'So at this very special time would the PM lend his support in principle to this noble endeavour?' Sir Keir replied: 'Dave Vera is sewn into our nation's soul for providing the soundtrack four our greatest generation, it is particularly timely, so I will support he campaign he has done so much to promote.' Dame Vera became a symbol of freedom for the men often thousands of miles from home and songs such as 'We'll Meet Again' and 'The White Cliffs of Dover' gave them hope in their darkest hours that they would one day return to their loved-ones in Britain. And at home hits such as 'There'll Always Be An England' gave millions belief better days lay ahead as the Luftwaffe lay siege to UK cities during the Blitz and threatened invasion from France before the Allies swept Hitler's forces aside. While her music was a beacon of hope between 1939 and 1945, her words in 'We'll Meet Again' resonated again shortly before her death, during the coronavirus pandemic, with the Queen using them to inspire modern Britain to evoke the spirit of its wartime generation and battle through the crisis. The song became a lockdown anthem as it again entered the singles charts with profits going to the NHS. After her death in 2020 the campaign to build a memorial in her honour has won cross-party support from MPs. Sir David campaigned for a tribute to the East End-born star as a symbol of strength during the Second World War and to her lifetime of charity work. The memorial has been designed by British sculptor Paul Day, who created the Battle of Britain tribute on London's Victoria Embankment. Appealing to the PM for support, Mr Francois noted it is the 80th anniversary of VE Day next week, telling the Commons 'no one did more to maintain their morale in adversity' in wartime Britain than Dame Vera.
