🇬🇧 VE Day London, May 8, 1945, Celebrations - Victory in Europe, WWII - Freedom Over Fascism

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Last edited Fri May 22, 2026, 10:31 PM - Edit history (4)

- VE Day Newsreel. Film of King George VI giving his radio address to the British Empire on the occasion of Germany's unconditional surrender in WW2, VE Day, May 8, 1945.

- AP News. VE Day, Tues., May 8, 1945, end of 6 years of war with Nazi Germany. (9:49 mins).

VE Day began with Mr. Churchill's broadcast officially announcing the end of war in Europe.
Londoners took to the streets in celebrations which continued for nearly 2 days.
- Outside Buckingham Palace the crowds chanted 'we want the king' and were rewarded by the Royal Family appearing on the balcony.
At 9:00 in the evening King George VI broadcast to Britain and the Commonwealth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_VI

- Scenes: Big Ben chiming 3 o'clock, SCU and CU Churchill reading his address announcing end of hostilities in Europe. - Trafalgar Square filled with people. Churchill's voice, 'Long live the land of freedom.' - Houses of Parliament, crowds watch MP's parade to St. Margaret's Church.

- Scenes of the West End, Picadilly, Trafalgar Square crowded with rejoicing people.
- At Lambeth, small crowds sing the 'Lambeth Walk.' Dancing in the streets, the Mall crowded, background Buckingham Palace, shouts 'we want the King,' King, Queen and Princesses appear on balcony. Night shots of London, crowds dancing, singing, Royals cheering.

- The Lambeth Walk, Me And My Girl, 1939.
The Lambeth Walk was popular dance named for the neighborhood in South London.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambeth
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- World War II, The Blitz, (Sept. 7, 1940–May 11, 1941), intense bombing campaign undertaken by Nazi Germany against the United Kingdom during World War II. For 8 months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. The attacks were authorized by Germany’s chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (“lightning war”).. - Battle of Britain...
https://www.britannica.com/event/the-Blitz
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- Battle of Britain, wiki. The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe.
It was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. It takes its name from the speech given by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the House of Commons on 18 June, 1940: "What General Weygand called the 'Battle of France' is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin."

The Germans had rapidly overwhelmed France and the Low Countries in the Battle of France, leaving Britain to face the threat of invasion by sea. The German high command recognised the difficulties of a seaborne attack while the Royal Navy controlled the English Channel and the North Sea. The primary objective of the German forces was to compel Britain to agree to a negotiated peace settlement.
The British officially recognise the battle's duration as being from 10 July until 31 October 1940, which overlaps the period of large-scale night attacks known as the Blitz, that lasted from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941. German historians do not follow this subdivision and regard the battle as a single campaign lasting from July 1940 to May 1941, including the Blitz...
https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain