VE Day 75 - via the MNA:

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Update via the MNA:

We will remember the members of the Armed Forces and Merchant Navy from many countries who gave their lives or returned home injured in body and mind, the hard-working women and men who operated the factories, mines, shipyards and farms, and ARP wardens, police officers, doctors, nurses, fireman, local defence volunteers and others who toiled day and night selflessly on the home front during difficult frightening and uncertain times.

LINK

"My dear friends,
this is your hour."

Winston Churchill on VE Day.

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VE Day, 8 May 1945 was a day to celebrate. Victory in Europe Day marked the long-awaited defeat of Nazi Germany by the Allies and followed the formal acts of military surrender. In Britain, Churchill marked the occasion by declaring this day a Public Holiday. People held local street parties, danced and sang in the streets and huge crowds gathered in London around Westminster, Trafalgar Square and outside Buckingham Palace.

Newsreel, Service and amateur cameramen all captured VE Day on film. Highlights from the IWM film collection can be viewed in our show-reel including vibrant colour footage taken by amateur cameramen taking part in the celebrations.

LINK

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There is just one month to go until we mark 75 years since VE Day.

In line with expert medical advice VE Day 75 events have been scaled back and the Veteran’s procession down the Mall will no longer take place. Explore this website for ways everyone can continue to pay tribute to the Second World War generation.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find out how you can get involved in commemorating this special anniversary on 8 May 2020, paying tribute to those who served at home and overseas, by visiting the link below. LINK

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VE Day Showreel | Victory 75

LINK

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More than 300 people have signed up to take part in a virtual VE day commemoration, organised by the Royal British Legion in Cambridgeshire.

The Huntingdon branch of the legion came up with the idea for standard bearers across the world to film themselves lowering their flags, after planned events were cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The footage will then be edited together and released on VE day on the 8th May, to mark 75 years since the end of the World War Two in Europe.

LINK

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A nationwide doorstep rendition of Dame Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again and a reading by Prince Charles from his grandfather’s wartime diary will be among the centrepieces of re-shaped celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

The “VE 75” commemorations of the end of the Second World War in Europe on 8 May will be led by an address to the nation from the Queen after plans for events including street parties and a parade of veterans down the Mall in central London were cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak.

LINK

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The Queen will address the nation to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day on an extraordinary day of virtual commemorations.

As part of the revised plans to mark the occasion during lockdown announced today, Her Majesty's words will be broadcast on May 8 on BBC One at 9pm.

That was the exact moment her father King George VI gave a radio address in 1945, broadcast from bomb-scarred Buckingham Palace, in which he asked the nation to join him in giving thanks 'for a great deliverance' as the war in Europe had ended.

LINK

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The final actions of the Battle of the Atlantic took place on May 8, 1945, just before German surrender. Allies lost around 3,500 merchant ships and 175 warships in the fighting, along with roughly 72,000 sailors killed. German casualties numbered 783 U-boats and around 30,000 sailors (75% of the U-boat force). Victory in the Atlantic theater, one of WWII's most important fronts, was critical to the Allied cause. Prime Minister Churchill later cited its importance:

"The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the air depended ultimately on its outcome."

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Toasting all the seafaring heroes



The Merchant Navy was Britain's lifeline throughout the Second World War. On VE Day this Friday we will be toasting all the seafaring heroes who kept the supply lines open during global conflict - much as the Merchant Navy continue to do today under very different conditions during the pandemic.

Merseyside Maritime Museum

Find out more about the key role played by the Merchant Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic on the website: LINK

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Letter to Radio Kent

Good Morning.

On behalf of the Merchant Navy Association, may I ask that you make mention of those who served and died, or were casualties, in the Merchant Navy during World War 2. Great Britain would not and could not have survived without them, yet are almost always forgotten when it comes to the various anniversaries commemorating events of both World Wars.

Few know that out of around 185,000 men and women who served in the Merchant Navy during WW2 there were 47,176 known casualties resulting from enemy action and that 36,248 died - proportionally higher at 27% than any of the armed forces. Some were as young as 14 years old, but I don't think any of them considered themselves as heroes - they were serving their country in its time of need.

Please remember all of them in your broadcasts today.

Thank you and best wishes.
Mike Battson. Master Mariner.

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From Chairman Merchant Navy Association Liverpool Branch

As you are aware the memorial services are on lockdown.

I will touch on the Merchant Navy!!

As we know 38,000 Merchant Seafarers were killed in the longest battle of WW2 , these were the forgotten Hero’s they brought the food and goods to this Island Nation and carried the troops , tanks and canons to the war and back again.

These Combatants Men and Women of all Nationalities who gave their All for the freedom of others and have no Grave but the Sea, this tally does not include those that died in Hospitals and Prisoner of War Camps .

We had Afro Caribbean and other commonwealth country’s , 9,000 Lascar Indians , 6,000 Chinese killed while sailing under the Red Ensign.

With this lockdown at 11:00 clock this morning held two minutes silence and dipped the Red Ensign in respect for these forgotten hero’s , and to all Seafarers effected by this Pandemic lock down

We will remember them RIP

Bill Anderson MNM. Maritime Investigation
Maritime Victims International helpline
MNA Chairman
Liverpool Merseyside Branch

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‘HQS’ Wellington is a Grimsby-class sloop & former Royal Navy vessel.

In WWII she served as a convoy escort ship in the North Atlantic.



Lest we forget all seafarers of her generation, both merchant & military,
who protected this island nation & kept it supplied.

⚓️

VEDay75

Honourable Company of Master Mariners

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My home town of Barry (Barry Docks) has been described as
a former Merchant Navy town.

One fact should not be forgot:

They Couldn't Have Done it without Them:

At the end of the Second World War a "Victory Parade" for servicemen was organised by the council in Barry and sponsored by the Mayor. Objections were received from a number of councillors because Merchant Seamen were going to be included in the Parade. These councillors stated that the Merchant Navy were not entitled to march, as the parade was for personnel from the three services, Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force only. A greater insult to the people of Barry could not have been made, most families having lost a member, a relation, or a near neighbour at sea during the war. These men, some as young as 15, and others as old as 68, were unsung heroes, and only through their efforts and sacrifice was Britain fed and armed, to enable it to keep fighting. Most Barry servicemen had relatives or friends who had served in the Merchant Navy, and refused to march unless the Merchant Navy were included. It was a situation reminiscent of the Luton Riots*, and if the parade went ahead without these men the same action might take place. The council backed down and quickly took another vote and included the Merchant Navy in the parade.

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Toasting all the seafaring heroes

VE Day 75th anniversary: U-Boat attack led to ‘pointless’ deaths off Fife coast as war in Europe ended

It was the last merchant ship sunk by Germany shortly before the official end of the Second World War in Europe – and controversially, three days after an end to naval hostilities had been ordered by German high command.
At 10.40 pm on May 7, 1945, the cargo ship S.S. Avondale Park, built in Pictou, Nova Scotia, and on passage from Hull to Belfast, was sunk in convoy 1.5 miles south east of the May Isle in the Firth of Forth.

The torpedo was fired by the Type XX111 German submarine U2336 commanded by Kapitanleutnant Emil Klusmeier.

Another torpedo sank the Norwegian ship, Sneland1.

A short while later, the war in Europe officially ended.

LINK

Bill, from Kidderminster, was just 18 years old when he joined the Merchant Navy, and from there he was seconded to Royal Navy to carry out vital tasks under enemy fire.

Bill was mentioned in the Dispatches for Bravery and good conduct.

Bill said: “There were a lot of shells and dive-bombers and I wasn’t allowed to carry a gun as I was from the Merchant Navy, although I had to wear a Royal Navy uniform.

“However, I was too busy getting on with the job at hand to be scared.
"I just remember tremendous noise, as well as hundreds of planes, and the smell of cordite.”

LINK

Second World War sailor remembers VE Day 75 years on

He was a sailor in the merchant navy and listened to Winston Churchill break the news overt the wireless at 3pm in Birkenhead town square, where his ship was docked.

Alan said: "I remember the broadcast so clearly. It was a riot in the square. It was just like the pictures you've seen in London of the Mall and that. It was crowded; you could hardly move; there was music of course and I was enjoying myself dancing with the girls.

"Without the Merchant Navy there would have been no fuel for the battle of Britain; there would have been no armaments for the D-Day landings."

"We went on till late at night. It was just marvellous." - Alan Day, Merchant Navy Veteran

LINK

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It may not have been the day planned, but VE Day 75 will itself become a part of history.

Speaking at the same hour her father, George VI, delivered his historic broadcast on a “great deliverance” 75 years ago, the Queen paid tribute to the many who “laid down their lives in that terrible conflict” and died “so we could live as free people in a world of free nations”.

“We should and will remember them,” she said.

Extracts from Churchill’s historic victory speech were broadcast, followed by the “Nation’s Toast”: “To those who gave so much, we thank you.” Royal Navy warships and support vessels blasted their sirens to mark the occasion.

In a special broadcast, on a unique day of remembrance, reflection and celebration taking place during the coronavirus lockdown, she said: “Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish. Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps.

“But our streets are not empty: they are filled with the love and care that we have for each other. And, when I look at our country today, and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, I say with pride that we are still a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognise and admire.”

K.