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VE and VJ Day Celebrations - Remembering The Past

September 2005

During the course of the summer months many people have attended VE celebration events throughout Northern Ireland, including, street parties, Barbecue's, vintage vehicle displays, story telling and fireworks displays. So what does VE Day mean and why do we remember?

Victory in Europe Day or VE Dayas it is known, was celebrated on 8th May 1945, the date when the allied armies during the Second World War formally celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.

On that date, massive celebrations took place, particularly in London, where over a million people celebrated in a carnival atmosphere the end of the European war. In London crowds massed in Trafalgar Square and up the Mall to Buckingham Palace, where King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the Palace to the cheering crowds. Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II, and her sister Princess Margaret were allowed to wander anonymously among the crowds and take part in the celebrations in London.

In the United States, President Harry Truman, who celebrated his 61st birthday that day, dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, because he had been so committed to ending the war. Roosevelt had died less than a month earlier, on April 12, 1945.

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