VE Day - Commemorating 80 Years
Earlier this year, the British nation came together to mark the 80th anniversary of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945. On May 8th 2025 – Victory in Europe Day – people from the length and breadth of the United Kingdom took time out to remember the determined resilience and honour the unmatched heroism shown by the unbelievably courageous yet entirely modest men and women who came to be known, aptly, as the ‘Greatest Generation.’ VE Day Parade in London to mark 80th anniversary of VE Day
Though wartime Prime Minister Winston Chruchill was referring to the vastly outnumbered RAF pilots who bested the Luftwaffe to win the Battle of Britain in 1940, he could well have been talking about Britons everywhere in 1945 when he famously remarked: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” Of course, it is important to remember that, while Great Britain and the Commonwealth did standalone against Hitler during the initial years of the Second World War, eventual victory was achieved by working together with Allies. Indeed, it is often said that Nazi Germany’s defeat on May 7th, 1945 was made possible by American manufacturing power, British intelligence and Soviet manpower. While this is not entirely accurate, it does reflect the fact that the British – who also made immense contributions in manufacturing and manpower – possessed something innate within their national character that enabled them to wage war in altogether more abstract and
creative ways than the Americans or Soviets. While the term ‘intelligence’ understandably stirs notions of espionage and deception (both of which wartime Britain excelled at), it also encompasses many other aspects, some of which are rather pertinent to King’s Award winners today. Aspects such as Innovation. Julie Spence, His Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, is a firm believer that we as a nation are often at our most innovative when we are collectively ‘up against it’: “Our will and seemingly innate determination to overcome problems and find solutions is put into overdrive during national crises, driven by severe need and threat,” she remarked, “whether that’s World War II – which many of us did not live through – or a worldwide pandemic, which we all did.” Mrs Spence illustrated her point by highlighting a few of the many innovations which were developed in Britain between 1939 and 1945: “During World War II the range of ideas that
were developed, innovated or adapted for new situations and demands from the front were wide-ranging. “From the development of the Bombe machine, by Alan Turing, which cracked the Enigma codes leading to gaining the advantage which helped bring the war to an end; to the mass production and deployment of penicillin, one of the first antibiotics, to preserve life and save soldiers in the field. “Frank Whittle designed a jet engine which went into the Gloster Meteor, the only allied jet to engage in combat operations. “And [there was] Robert Watson-Watt who used microwaves to develop radar into an effective early warning defence system; the peace time dividend being today’s microwave ovens when Percy Spencer accidentally found out that this energy could quickly cook food.” Ms Lucy Winskell, OBE, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear echoed Mrs Spence’s sentiments, adding how innovation was implemented regionally and in more abstract ways: “The engineering skills, which had long
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