Royal British Legion to host tea party to commemorate VE Day's 80th anniversary
A tea party and a remembrance service at the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) are among the celebrations planned to celebrate VE Day's 80th anniversary, the Royal British Legion (RBL) has revealed.
The programme of events will bring together the biggest gathering of Second World War veterans on VE Day.
The veterans will recount their tales and celebrate what they helped to achieve 80 years ago during the tea party at the NMA on 8 May.
Following the tea party, the remembrance service will take place at 16:00 UK time. Music from 19:45 will be performed in Heroes' Square before the service begins.
The service is open to the public and seating will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
"The Royal British Legion is incredibly proud to be putting veterans at the heart of these celebrations and commemorations marking the end of the Second World War, and to be supporting the Government's VE Day programme," Mark Atkinson, RBL's director general, said.
"This is one of the last chances the nation will have to pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of the Second World War generation, and to thank the small number of veterans still with us today."
On Friday, a group of World War Two veterans launched the VE Day 80th anniversary tea party at the Ritz in central London.
Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret famously escaped Buckingham Palace to go to the Ritz to celebrate VE Day at the end of the Second World War.
Several WWII veterans who were also at the historic London hotel in 1945 shared their memories over afternoon tea at the hotel's launch event.
D-Day veteran Bernard Morgan, who was a codebreaker throughout the war, partied on VE Day in 1945.
"It will be an honour and a privilege to be at the National Memorial Arboretum for the 80th anniversary of VE Day – a day 80 years ago which will be forever in our memories," the centenarian, who still has the original telex he received two days before VE Day was officially announced to the public, said.
"It's also important to remember what everyone did for the country during the war and the sacrifices that were made."
Gilbert Clarke, who volunteered from Jamaica in 1943 to join the RAF as a mechanic after lying about his age, attended the event.
Mr Clarke, 98, was one of the three million men and women from the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia who served in the British military during the Second World War.
The RBL's events will demonstrate the contribution of the Commonwealth countries to the victory against the Nazis and how they helped shape modern Britain.
"Victory would not have been possible without the contribution of Allied forces from the Commonwealth and beyond," Mr Atkinson added.
The RBL is inviting its members, volunteers and branches to organise their own VE Day tea parties, which they hope will inspire communities to meet for the national celebrations.
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