VE Day

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Kathryn" <kcawte at n...> wrote:

K:
>  Hi guys,
> This is mainly aimed t the Americans on list, but anyone from other
> countries feel free to chime in. I've been watching the VE day 
ceremonies
> and I'm getting quite irked by the fact that not only are the 
commentators
> ignoring the fact that the war was still going on in the Far East 
but that
> several of them have referreed to it as the end of the war. Are 
American
> commentators doing the same thing?
> 
> British commentators seem to have forgotten all about the rest of 
the war
> and it seems vaguely insulting to all those British and Empire 
soldiers who
> were still fighting and dying in Asia or imprisoned in camps over 
there.

Geoff:
I think before you get too hot under the collar, we need to take on 
board the fact that the perception of VE Day was very different to 
people in Europe compared to those in the US.

Let's consider the background. The United States entered the Second 
World War after the attack on Pear Harbour in December 1941. 
Initially the US effort was directed to the Pacific theatre although 
they soon gave valiant and staunch support to the European campaigns.

By this time the Second World War was 15 months old. Apart from 
Sweden and Switzerland, every country on the European mainland had 
either been overrun and occupied by the Germans or had had a puppet 
government installed. The only free country was Britain and we were 
under great pressure. The efforts of "The Few" had just kept the 
Nazis from invading but the Blitz had seen heavy and continuous 
bombing attacks on London which had suffered terrible devastation and 
many provincial cities such as Birmingham and Manchester had been 
also in the front line for bombing. It should also be remembered 
while we consider the above that the US was never invaded and was 
never bombed and never had its children growing up with bombsites as 
part of the scenery as I did for example.

So, by the time of VE Day, 8th May 1945, the only European country 
able to send troops to fight in the Far East was Great Britain. 
Therefore, for those who lived in mainland Europe, VE day *was* the 
end of the war as far as they were concerned. They were finally free 
but had to set to work to rebuild their countries. There was so much 
to do that the war in the Pacific as probably not uppermost in their 
thoughts. So they celebrated the end of the war for them.

Here in Britain, there was also an air of euphoria. I was 5 years 
old  in February 1945 and started school at Easter. I can remember my 
family – my grandparents and my mother being over the moon because of 
the German surrender; there was a street party and a school party 
held in the open in the "big boys" playground but the biggest event 
for me was that my father came home to stay; after five years as a 
soldier, he was demobbed and came home to find civilian work.

There were still UK troops in action but after the attacks on 
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, VJ Day followed surprisingly 
quickly. We shall mark the 60th anniversary of this event here in 
Britain as well because there are many veterans still who help to 
remind us of those who fought in the Far East. But that is why I 
think you will find that the 8th May date chimes more with Europeans 
than perhaps it does in the US because of the different ways in which 
the war impinged on folk. No insults are intended.....