My VE Day was nothing like our image of it today. I hope we can honour what it really meant | Sheila Hancock | The Guardian
Our street party tea was a muted celebration, full of uncertainty. Then, as now, we faced a long struggle towards a better world, says actor and writer Sheila Hancock This month, we are commemorating the 80th anniversary of VE Day, and I worry that we will turn it into a yet another jingoistic celebration of the second world war. Yes, in 1945 we were relieved that the bombs and doodlebugs and rocket weapons had stopped, and we heard there was fun going on in the West End of London – but where I lived it was less jubilant.Because I now deeply fear the dangerous signs of history repeating itself, I want everyone to remember that war is terrible. On VE Day 1945, the world was looking at the complete destruction of many cities, some by us. Tens of millions of people were dead or homeless.
