Year 7 Skills

VE Day

1. Victory in Europe Day, generally known as VE Day (United Kingdom) or V-E Day (North America), is a day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on 8 May 1945.

2.    V-E Day was observed on May 8, 1945, in Great Britain, Western Europe, the United States and Australia, and on May 9 in the Soviet Union and New Zealand. V-E Day commemorates the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allied forces in 1945, ending World War II in Europe

3.    In January 1945, many believed the war in Europe would last much longer. In January, U.S. Army soldiers were still battling against German forces that had launched the Battle of the Bulge. That battle was the largest the U.S. Army ever fought and out of the 90,000 casualties, around 19,000 soldiers were killed.

4.     A national holiday was declared in Britain for 8 May 1945. In the morning, Churchill had gained assurances from the Ministry of Food that there were enough beer supplies in the capital and the Board of Trade announced that people could purchase red, white and blue bunting without using ration coupons.

5.     On 8 May 1945 millions of people across the world celebrated Allied victory in Europe. But VE Day did not signal an end to the Second World War. ... In June 1945, 50 countries signed the United Nations Charter and pledged to maintain international peace and security

6.     In Holland, V-E Day arrived just two days short of the fifth anniversary of the day German troops had invaded the country. Prime Minister William Mackenzie King announced the “victory won at so great a price” and reminded citizens that the war against Japan continued.

7.     In the United States, the event coincided with President Harry Truman's 61st birthday. He dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died of a cerebral haemorrhage less than a month earlier, on 12 April

8.    Victory in Europe Day, generally known as VE Day (United Kingdom) or V-E Day (North America), is a day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on 8 May 1945. ... Most European countries celebrate the end of World War II on 8 May.

9.     The reason poppies are used to remember those who have given their lives in battle is that they are the flowers, which grew on the battlefields after World War 1 ended. This is described in the famous World War 1 poem In Flanders Fields. ... It is also used to help those who have lost loved ones because of wars.

10.  The Irish don't wear poppies because the English killed the Irish.