An aerobatics team of the Royal Air Force joined a series of events on Friday to mark Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) – May 8, 1945 – when fighting against Nazi Germany in Europe came to an end in World War II that involved millions of soldiers from colonial India.
It was on this day 75 years ago that Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced on the radio at 3 pm that the war in Europe had come to an end, following Germany’s surrender on the previous day. A two-minute silence was observed across the UK on Friday morning.
As the royal family and the Prime Minister Boris Johnson led tributes while maintaining social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic, many recalled the contribution of Indians, such as iconic spy Noor Inayat Khan and the erstwhile Women’s Royal Indian Naval Service (WRINS).
The ‘Wrins’, as they were known, mostly included Indian women. It was formed in 1942, and went on to become an intrinsic part of the British defence forces. They were assigned specialist tasks, such as top secret decoding, clerical duties, training in gunnery tactics.
Johnson said: “Seventy-five years ago today, the people of this country celebrated victory against Hitler’s aggression. This country triumphed thanks to the heroism of countless ordinary people, and because of this, hundreds of millions of people now live in peace and freedom today”.
“Today we must celebrate their achievement, and we remember their sacrifice. We are a free people because of everything our veterans did – we offer our gratitude, our heartfelt thanks and our solemn pledge: you will always be remembered.”
At 3 pm on Friday, extracts from Churchill’s victory speech were scheduled to be broadcast across television and radio to recreate the moment the end of the war was announced. Queen Elizabeth, who was a witness to the events 75 years ago, was due to address the nation at 9 pm.
Over 2 million soldiers from the colonial Indian army joined the World War II, besides financial and other contribution from the colony. The soldiers saw action in various theatres of conflict in Europe as well as in south Asia; 89,000 of them died.
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