It’s Friday, 8th May, VE Day. On the 8th of May 1945 Hitlers Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies. After six years of fighting between 1939 and 1945, Europe had peace at last. The Germans invaded most of Europe and wreaked havoc.
While Europe was occupied by the Nazis, they killed and executed millions of people for their beliefs, etc.
During the Second World War in Europe, it is recorded that between 21 million and 25 million Allied military deaths occurred. The UK lost 383,600 military deaths during the conflict, with Russia losing the most between 8,800,000 and 10,700,000 million military personnel.
On June 6th, 1944, D-Day brought the invasion of Normandy. British and US forces attacked to liberate Europe. With the Russians attacking from the east and British and US forces also attacking from Italy, the date 8th May will be remembered because it ended the war.
The Nazi leader Adolf Hitler committed suicide instead of standing to be counted for the war crimes the German army and the SS committed. Some of the war crimes were crimes against humanity and waging aggressive war. The Nuremberg trials, which put the Nazi high command left alive on trial, put all the charges against the Nazis.
These days, we have only a handful of soldiers still alive. They did their duty for Britain and freed us from an evil tyranny. Hitler was so close to invading England that we may have lost the war and been talking German.
The problem is that not many young people know enough about WW2. The older generation had stories from their parents and grandparents. It’s 81 years since the end of the war, we should not forget.
The Falklands War in 1982 was 44 years ago. If you ask youngsters if they remember this war its unlikely, they do.
Let’s not forget WW2 and its significance in the life we have today. All those lives lost to give us freedom.