Brits party like it’s 1945 as UK celebrates 80th anniversary of VE Day with a proper knees-up
BRITAIN partied like it was 1945 yesterday as the nation celebrated the 80th anniversary of VE Day with a proper knees-up.
Street parties sprung up across the land once again amid happy songs and dance.
It was a fitting toast to those who gave their today so we could have our tomorrow.
Wartime music played as people — young and old — helped recreate the greatest day in our nation’s long history.
Some dressed up in 1940s military uniforms while others paid a heartfelt tribute to the defiant backbone of the Land Army.
The nationwide party kicked off at Buckingham Palace which hosted a special bash for veterans.
Over in Downing Street, guests were seated at two long tables decorated with flowers, miniature Union flags and table mats.
Among the guests were Second World War veterans Ruth Brook Klauber and Colin Deverell, both aged 101.
Bunting was hanging over the tables and draped over the ground floor windows of No 10.
Over in Preston, Lancs, six women stole the limelight as Land Army Girls — as they paraded proudly down a party street.
And in nearby Blackburn, around 10,000 turned up for a party in the park.
Karen Turner, 51, who was there with her family, said: “Eighty years is a big milestone and it’s important we celebrate it. There are not many veterans still with us.”
Thirty miles west, in Lytham, a VE street party was in full flow.
And in Stockton-on-Tees, Co Durham, families gathered at a party at Preston Park Museum.
A late Victorian Street with period shops and cobbles was repurposed into a 1940s theme with wartime music played across the Union Jack festooned tables.
Sheila McIntyre, 73, dressed as a Land Girl, said: “It’s nice to see something happening that has a real community feel to it.”
Meanwhile, London’s East End — flattened by the Nazis during the Blitz — also rejoiced.
Wapping, home to the docklands and shipyards, was bombed for 57 consecutive nights during the war.
But yesterday, with a hat tip to history, hundreds gathered on the village green.
Tom Simpson, 40, who took his son Luka, seven, said: “It’s important to celebrate it this year — perhaps more now than ever. We don’t want history to repeat itself.”
Carer Katie Mountain, 40, with son Connor, said: “We look after our own in Wapping and we’re doing that today.”
In South Wales, Cardiff Castle welcomed hundreds of families to a mass picnic on its giant lawn.
Performers Polly Kilpatrick and Cathy Peace entertained the crowds as Vera and Lynn.
In the North Yorks village of Kildwick, locals enjoyed a ration supper before listening to voice recordings of elderly residents who lived through VE Day as kids.
And in Hull, thousands flocked to East Park in the sunshine.
Singers in period costume belted out wartime classics.