VE Day: How Britain Celebrated Victory in Europe

At 3pm on 8 May 1945, Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcast to the nation: "The German war is therefore at an end." The response was immediate and overwhelming. Across Britain, millions poured into the streets in scenes of jubilation that had been six years in the making.

The Celebrations

In London, a crowd estimated at one million packed the area around Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, and Whitehall. The Royal Family appeared on the palace balcony eight times during the day. Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret slipped out of the palace to join the crowds — a moment later recounted by Queen Elizabeth II as one of the most memorable of her life.

Across the country, street parties were organised with extraordinary speed. Tables were dragged into roads, bunting appeared from nowhere, and precious hoarded rations were brought out for communal feasts. Bonfires blazed on hilltops, church bells rang out for the first time since 1940, and pub closing times were suspended.

Mixed Emotions

Yet the celebrations were not universal. For families who had lost loved ones, the day brought grief alongside relief. For the thousands of British prisoners of war in Japanese camps, the war was not yet over. And for many servicemen and women still overseas, VE Day was a moment of reflection rather than celebration.

The Day After

Churchill warned in his broadcast that Japan had "yet to be dealt with." The war in the Pacific would continue for another three months. But for one day, a weary, battered, but unbroken Britain allowed itself to celebrate.