This week's Radio Times commemorates VE Day at 80
As the nation marks the anniversary of Victory in Europe, RT meets some of the last survivors of the Second World War.
VE Day 1945 was an occasion that meant much more than the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Many years ago I asked my grandfathers what VE Day meant to them. One had served in the Far East and said, "It was a day like any other, but there was beer in the Naafi that night."
The other, who had been a conscientious objector, told me, "The madness that had afflicted Europe was finally over and the relief was overwhelming." I'm not sure which memory is the more poignant.
Now, 80 years on, we talk to ordinary people who celebrated the day and find out what it means to them now. But I'll leave the last word to King George VI, who addressed the nation that day.
"In the darkest hours we knew that the enslaved and isolated peoples of Europe looked to us; their hopes were our hopes... We knew that, if we failed, the last remaining barrier against a worldwide tyranny would have fallen in ruins.
"But we did not fail. We kept our faith with ourselves and with one another... That faith, that unity, have carried us to victory through dangers which at times seemed overwhelming."
I think that pretty much sums up what VE Day meant then – and still does now.
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Also in this week's Radio Times:
- Gary Oldman reveals why he went from playing villains to alcoholics - and how he won't give up on Slow Horses' Jackson Lamb.
- Sir David Attenborough's new film holds a message of hope for the future wellbeing of the planet.
- Victoria star Tom Hughes is stepping into the modern day in the new medical drama Malpractice.
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