Original subtitles

297,000 children still in London.

AIR RAID SIRENS BLARE

Whilst I'm sure they're not all here, quite a number are.

Down here on the platforms of the famous

Piccadilly Tube in the heart of London's West End.

It's one of the saddest results of the war that women,

children and men have to be here at all.

Many are bombed out of their homes, all look tired,

but they feel safe here, a good 100 feet below ground

and their spirit and fortitude are simply grand.

SIRENS CONTINUE

Here they come.

First, Her Majesty the Queen, comes into view,

then the King in the uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet.

The two princesses, standing on the balcony, listen to the crowd.

CHEERING

CHURCH BELLS RING

MUSIC: Sing Sing Sing by The Andrews Sisters

# Sing, sing, sing, sing

# Everybody start to sing

# Ooh ooh, waah ooh

# Now you're singing with a swing

# Sing, sing, sing, sing

# Everybody start to sing

# Ooh ooh, waah ooh

# Now, you're singing with a swing

# When the music goes around... #

A very great crowd has collected already,

thousands upon thousands of people gathered to share this

historic day with the King and Queen.

It's one dense mass of people.

People in the gayest colours. Red, white and blue rosettes.

Red, white and blue hats.

Streamers. Flags.

# Listen to the trumpet swing... #

TRUMPET SOLO

# Blow, blow, blow, blow

# Listen to the trombones go... #

This is the BBC Home Service.

FANFARE AND CHEERING

Come on, foaming at the mouth! Wave your flags.

Tell the band to strike up. Which song, boss?

Our victory song, dedicated to the man who's won the war.

Now start the procession.

MILITARY MUSIC PLAYS

# We're glad we walked behind the man who smoked the big cigar

# Tra la la la Tra la la la

# Tra la la la la la

# We followed the man whose master plan has carried us through the war

# Tra la la la Tra la la la

# Tra la la la la la

# One sniff of the old Havana

# We'd follow him right to Fujiyama

# We're glad we walked behind the man who smoked the big cigar

# Tra la la la Tra la la la

# Tra la la la la la! #

CHURCHILL: Japan, with all her treachery and greed,

remains unsubdued.

The injuries she has inflicted upon Great Britain, the United States

and other countries

and her detestable cruelties

call for justice and retribution.

We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing,

today and tomorrow, Wednesday, as Victory in Europe Day.

MEN'S VOICES: I went up there to see VE Day. Yeah.

Did the King and Queen appear on the balcony?

Thousands of people, dancing and singing. Yeah.

Oh, they were wonderful. Yeah. Yeah.

I didn't see the King and Queen,

of course, there was too many people, but...

WOMAN'S VOICE: What a lovely day that was.

That was really nice, that was. Oh!

A real knees-up, that was. WOMEN LAUGH

That was a real knees-up, that was.

I mean, there was streamers all over the place

and we all had hats on at Woolworths, you know.

CHEERING

At this moment, our wonderful Mr Churchill has come out

onto the Ministry of Health balcony.

CHURCHILL: This is your victory.

Victory of the cause of freedom in every land.

In all our long history,

we have never seen a greater day than this.

CHEERING

They did come out on the balcony with Churchill.

Tremendous roar went up, lots of roars.

It seemed to last a long time.

ANNOUNCER: And now, listen, the band is playing Land Of Hope And Glory

and the crowd is singing, and this suddenly has become a very moving

moment, for Mr Churchill too is singing

and he is conducting the singing of this song.

Will you listen, please?

Well, the great thing was to...not to be recognised

so we all dressed down.

SINGING IN BACKGROUND

And... Everybody was in uniform.

Anybody who wasn't in uniform looked out of place.

I wasn't allowed to join the army because I was too young and...

SINGING CONTINUES

And so, I was rather sort of kept back.

Six long years, and

all-embracing jubilation rings out in the victory peel from St Pauls.

BELLS RING

As I say, everything was so... fraught, you know.

Everything was so loud, and black and gloomy.

That's why, of course, this VE Day was such a wonderful sort of,

you know, sunburst of glory.

I went with a group of other young people,

up to Trafalgar Square on the train,

to Trafalgar Square to see the celebrations then which were

very spectacular.

My memory mostly is about how many people there were

and the pushing and shoving and how you couldn't get to see

all the things you would've liked to have seen.

And how packed Trafalgar Square was.

But it was an exciting time.

MUSIC: We Must All Stick Together Billy Cotton & his Band

But at this hour, when the dreadful shadow of war has passed

far from our hearths and homes in these islands,

we may at last make one pause for thanksgiving

and then turn our thoughts to the tasks all over the world

which peace in Europe brings with it.

# We must all stick together, birds of a feather

# And the clouds will soon roll by. #

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC CONTINUES

The Queen and I know the ordeals that you have endured

throughout the Commonwealth and Empire.

We are proud to have shared some of them with you

and we know also that we shall all face the future together

with stern resolve and prove that

our reserves of will-power and vitality are inexhaustible.

There is great comfort in the thought that the years of darkness

and danger in which the children of the country have grown up are over.

SWING MUSIC PLAYS

It all seemed to happen, just like building the shelters, I can't

remember anybody organising it but there was just going to be a party.

And everybody brought out trestle tables or any old

tables that they had. All the women baked.

Everybody brought what they could, lemonade or...

I mean, there was very little alcohol, if any.

I mean, alcohol was quite difficult to get hold of

so possibly there was and I might not have possibly known about it.

But otherwise it was just great big tables full of food

and balloons and paper hats, anything you could get.

And the thing is people made their own decorations.

And we just had a marvellous time and then somebody dragged

a piano out and played, cos they did,

nearly everybody, parlours had pianos then and people could play.

And everybody danced. And it was glorious, it was gorgeous.

# And the world gets back some horse sense

# What a day for celebration that will be

# When somebody shouts the fight's up

# And it's time to put the lights up

# Then the first thing to be lit up will be me

# I'm going to get lit up when the lights go up in London. #

# Goodnight, sweetheart... #

I remember being at home, not having to go...

I'd left school and I was then at business college at Martin's.

And, as far as I remember, everybody was at home.

They got in the streets and they were sort of shouting, and cheering,

and waving flags about.

And...some of them were very sad,

they'd lost husbands and boyfriends and all the rest of it,

but personally, I think, as a 17-year-old, I was just

happy the war was over and we could do as we pleased, more or less.

We were pretty short of food, but we looked forward to having

good meals and going to the shop and buying things, clothes

and everything which we couldn't buy then.

Everything was on coupons.

Me as a 10, 11, 12-year-old,

asking my grandfather about various things to do with VE day.

So, his plan was that they would have a party for the locals

in a barn, ordinary barn.

He did describe it as a very happy event.

Although he said,

"I caught myself looking up several times,

"and catching my wife's eye," my grandmother, who was Penelope,

he used to call Nelop.

He said, "I remember looking up at Nelop

"and she was definitely muted. She was quiet."

And this reflected the fact that their eldest son,

my uncle David, was still out in Malay.

And, of course, this was true of many, many families on VE Day.

They had the joy of celebrating, mixed with a lot of,

in some cases, anxiety. And of course a lot of overt sadness.

And he writes here,

that "Of the people who came,

"many were able to walk to their houses within minutes.

"One couple who had come had walked 2.5 miles to get to us

"from a small village outside the town."

And they walked the 2.5 miles back later that afternoon.

And instead of getting back to enjoy their evening,

they found a telegram waiting for them.

Can you imagine that?

"Mr and Mrs Peters found a telegram informing them that their son

"Malcolm had been killed in an air crash the previous week."

And that telegram reached them on...

..on that very day, and they didn't find out until that evening.

As far as we were concerned,

We had quite a few churches and church-related things

round the old marketplace because the city hall wasn't built then.

And, yes, we had a lot of celebrations,

and we had St Peter Mancroft and all those,

rang all their bells, what they still had.

Because some of the churches, the bells had been taken away

and I supposed used in some way or other, used the metal, I think.

There was lots of boys that we knew who, at the end part of the war,

had been called up, and of course they were away.

They were in the Air Force, and the Army, and all sorts.

And the Navy.

Because although the war ended, and you thought, "Good!

"That's the end of rationing!" It wasn't.

There was still a shortage of food, a shortage of sweet things.

A shortage of... Or difficult for you to do lots of things.

You couldn't...

You went down to the coast,

you couldn't get down onto the beach

because there was all the...

..wire netting and all the things to stop invasions, and whatnot,

so you had to make the best of it.

And, being youngsters, we got on our bikes,

and went down to Sea Palling and back on our bikes.

But we had to sit on the other side of the dunes, on the land side,

because there was... I suppose the beaches were still mined.

I say to my missus, I say, "We ought to win wars more often

"cos I ain't seen no salad cream since 1940!"

But, bugger me, we had bottles of the stuff on the table!

CHURCHILL: Our gratitude to all our splendid allies...

..goes forth from all our hearts in this island

and throughout the British Empire.

For this victory,

we join in offering our thanks to the providence which has guided

and sustained us through the dark days of adversity.

Our rejoicing is sobered and subdued

by a supreme consciousness of the terrible price

we have paid to rid the world of Hitler and his evil band.

I think it was VE day, my mother and I

went down to Newcastle into the city centre

with the crowds.

And my mother sort of wanted to show me exactly what it was all about.

And everybody was very merry and cheerful.

Yes, I remember that. That was on VE Day.

# Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye

# With a cheer, not a tear Make it gay

# Give me a smile I can keep for a while

# In my heart while I'm away... #

The North, right from the East Coast over to Liverpool in the North West,

was an absolute industrial powerhouse during the war.

All the major centres had been brutally battered by the Luftwaffe,

and every community, every street,

had a long list of sons,

husbands and loved ones who were never coming home

alongside all those civilians who had perished.

They partied hard when VE Day came.

There was a massive emotional outpouring,

especially from the factories, who organised parties and celebrations.

This was tinged with anxiety about what lay ahead

in the post-war economy.

But for now, they were happy to eat, drink and celebrate.

I was at RAF Bosworth in Leicestershire.

We were all excited to know it was all over,

and it was arranged by somebody -

I suppose it was a senior official -

that we would all enjoy ourselves

in De Montfort Hall in Leicester.

And we did celebrate - you know, plenty of dancing

and plenty of drink - and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

DRUMS AND BAGPIPES PLAY

FIELD MARSHAL MONTGOMERY: I would ask you all to remember

those of our comrades who fell in the struggle.

They gave their lives that others might have freedom,

and no man can do more than that.

It took a couple of days to really sink in

cos your senses were still tense.

You know.

All you could hear were church bells...

HE LAUGHS

..which was marvellous.

And when the news came through, we looked at these things

and my team - I had eight of them -

we said, "Well, there's only one place, I think, John,

"and that's the nearest pub."

So we went down to the nearest pub, celebrated all the work we'd done

in the gun stores and drank for the future.

And it was such a relief.

MUSIC: A Nice Cup of Tea by Binnie Hale

# Some folks put much reliance

# On politics and science

# There's only one hero for me

# His praise, we should be roaring The man who thought of pouring

# The first boiling water onto tea

# I like a nice cup of tea in the morning

# For to start the day, you see

# And at half past 11

# Well, my idea of heaven is a nice cup of tea... #

Cardiff during the Second World War was a strategic centre,

primarily for coal and steel, and the Germans targeted it

with heavy bombing raids right up to 1944.

VE Day came and it was a huge relief.

People took to the streets all over.

There was a massive celebration in Cardiff,

where 355 civilians had died at the height of the raids.

The Welsh, of course, are famed for their sense of community,

and this was greatly evident as people came together in the streets

and made merry with the little that they had.

There are tales of bakers working 24 hours to satisfy the demand

for sandwich loaves, with something of a blind eye being turned

to rationing - that day at least.

# And when I get the breakfast in

# Well, my idea of sin is a fourth, or a fifth, cup of tea

# I like a nice cup of tea with me dinner

# And a nice cup of tea with me tea

# And when it's time for bed

# There's a lot to be said for a nice cup of tea. #

KING GEORGE VI: To that, then, let us turn our thoughts

on this day of just triumph and proud sorrow

and tomorrow take up our work again, resolved as a people

to do nothing unworthy of those who died for us,

and to make the world such a world

as they would have desired for their children.

At the present time, it is of paramount importance

that the women and girls of our country be given training

so that they may do their share in the war emergency.

How this training is given and who does it

is of great interest to us all.

Fix your eyes on the horizons,

swing your ears about, size up the day and date,

look in on prayer and thanksgiving, song and laughter,

dated Planet Earth May 8th, 1945.

You, mother, in St Louis on the Mississippi,

whose first-born is a visitor in Magdeburg on the Elbe.

Thank God I'll get my boy back instead of a telegram.

You, patient wife of Bridgeport,

whose husband sat it out inside a Nazi prison.

Now he'll be home for longer than a furlough.

Now he can see our daughter for the first time. She's two years old.

Strange to think they've never met.

In farmhouse of steppe and upland,

in mining villages with regimented chimneys,

in apartments of executives -

where decor is impeccable and genuine Utrillos hang -

in tenements where L trains go by every seven minutes

with a rack and roar,

it's top of the evening, hip, hip, hooray!

How about another drink out and the very good times being had by all?

Meanwhile, the crowds gather.

CHEERING

Crowds in Times Square, Piccadilly, Nevsky Prospect,

crowds in The Loop, crowds on the Boulevard,

gaiety and neon, laughter and the blare of horns,

headlines cheerful as a Christmas poster, noise and glitter.

This is it, kids. This is the day.

This is what we've been waiting for.

MUSIC: This is the Army, Mr Jones by Irving Berlin

# This is the Army, Mr Jones

# No private rooms or telephones

# You had your breakfast in bed before

# But you won't have it there any more

# This is the Army, Mr Green

# We like the barracks nice and clean

# You had a housemaid to clean your floor

# But she won't help you out any more

# Do what the buglers command

# They're in the Army and not in a band

# This is the Army, Mr Brown... #

PRESIDENT TRUMAN: Put this tremendous machine of ours,

which has made this victory possible, to work for peace,

we can look forward to the greatest age in the history of mankind.

That's what we propose to do.

# This is the Army, Mr Jones

# No private rooms or telephones

# You had your breakfast in bed before

# But you won't have it there any more

# This is the Army, Mr Green

# We like the barracks nice and clean

# You had a housemaid to clean your floor

# But she won't help you out any more... #

RADIO BROADCAST: Meanwhile, Hitler's nose is rubbed good and hard

in the mud of humiliation.

Germany bans all Heil Hitler greetings, all Nazi salutes.

And the number of German prisoners in American/British hands

runs into so many millions, it may be more than the combined total

of all American and British troops on all European battle fronts.

If any army has ever suffered greater humiliation...

..I am unable to recall it.

Peace in Europe!

There'll be hundreds of headlines now, all rich in human interest.

Things have come to pass which few living men thought probable.

General de Gaulle with a price on his head.

"Shoot this man on sight," said the French Quisling.

"Shoot this man on sight," said the Nazis.

One man standing alone,

calling to his countrymen to realise France had only lost the battle.

Who would have said on that dark day when Hitler danced at Compiegne

that de Gaulle would stand today in Notre-Dame

offering thanksgiving for the victory...

..that this one man standing alone would be the leader of his people

in the great hour of victory?

And the men who put a price on his head...

..fugitives or prisoners.

NEWSREADER: Victory echoes across a thankful Europe,

as Parisians turn out in holiday mood

and General de Gaulle pays tribute to the undying spirit of liberty.

MUSIC: Les amants de Paris by Edith Piaf

# Les amants de Paris couchent sur ma chanson

# A Paris, les amants s'aiment a leur facon

# Les refrains que je leur dis

# C'est plus beau que les beaux jours

# Ca fait des tas de printemps et le printemps fait l'amour

# Mon couplet s'est perdu Sur les bords d'un jardin

# On ne me l'a jamais rendu Et pourtant, je sais bien

# Que les amants de Paris m'ont vole mes chansons

# A Paris, les amants ont de droles de facons

# Les amants de Paris se font a Robinson... #

That's when I saw the biggest parade in my life.

On the shoulders of my father!

Tell us about that. This was a profound moment for you.

Well, I...

They closed off the Champs-Elysees.

If you ever been to Paris, that's the biggest main street

in the world that I know of.

They had 42 soldiers lined up, coming down...

Coming down the Champs-Elysees.

And I'm standing on my father's shoulder, watching the parade.

And we're all...

You go to Paris, which happens to be my birthday.

I'm driving my car through Paris and I see all these flags.

I said, "How'd they know I was coming?!"

LAUGHTER

And it happened to be a celebration for the liberation of Paris.

There is no Frenchman born who does not feel at this moment

the deepest emotion -

be he in France, in America or the farthest soil of this global war.

Out of the suffering France has borne,

there rises a people re-dedicated to Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite.

May I please add one word to my countrymen?

Mes chers amis, je n'ai qu'attendre a vous crier

merci, et de vous dire que notre pensee a nous,

si loin des combats, va aujourd'hui d'abord vers nos prisonniers.

Qu'ils nous etre bientot rendus et nous trouver tous unis

et resolus a leur prouver que leur long martyr

n'a pas ete souffert en vain.

MUSIC: La Marseillaise

ANNOUNCER: Gabriel Heatter and his up-to-the-minute News Of The World,

presented by Forhan's Toothpaste.

Good evening, everyone. The last communique of World War II is in.

Russia proclaims tomorrow as VE Day.

The Russian people were told tonight for the first time of

Germany's unconditional surrender.

Moscow Radio reports all terms laid down by General Eisenhower

were ratified tonight in Berlin -

Field Marshal Keitel and Admiral Freideburg signing for Germany,

in the presence of Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz,

Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, Field Marshal Zhukov

and General de Tassigny.

There was some anxiety in many quarters today

when ten hours went by without any proclamation in Moscow.

Russia evidently waited for the official hour -

6:01 tonight Eastern War Time.

And Russia evidently waited for the ratification in Berlin,

for the crowning hour of German humiliation -

unconditional surrender in the capital, where the war was planned.

And they evidently waited for the final death rattle

in Dresden and Prague,

where the fighting came to an end but a few hours ago

and surrender became official one hour ago.

Now the guns are quiet everywhere in Europe and the lights are on.

And the hearts of men and women are lifted in thanksgiving

as millions say tonight...

.."Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Peace in Europe. Peace in Europe.

Tomorrow we shall pay a particular tribute

to our heroic Russian comrades,

whose prowess in the field has been one of the grand contributions

to the general victory.

MUSIC: The State Anthem of the Soviet Union

News generally travels by wireless, printing press and radio,

and it moves lightning fast, and its impact is powerful and violent.

But an older medium carried today's news.

There was no impact or violence.

It was a church bell,

and the news it brought reached into human hearts.

I've heard people say, "We've always had war

"and we shall always have more war,

"and there just isn't anything we can do about it."

And today one saw the long lines of men and women

filing into houses of worship for prayer and Thanksgiving,

and one realised again,

nothing, NOTHING will ever lift human hearts as high

as a bell tolling its message in one word -

peace.

One had to be there to see it all and feel it.

One had to be near the mother who fell to her knees

and raised a careworn face to God

and, loud enough for all who were near to hear every word,

heard her say, "Oh, God, I have lost one boy.

"Bring my second back to me. Oh, God, I need him so."

Thank you, Gabriel Heatter.

Gabriel Heatter with up-to-the-minute News Of The World

was presented this evening by Forhan's Toothpaste.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of the days

we've been looking forward to for so long.

This is one of the days for which men left their wives and children,

their jobs and their professions,

to put on uniforms and give their days and their lives

to end tyranny and aggression - we hope forever.

But this is just one of the days.

There's another day coming and, may it be soon,

when we can celebrate complete victory.

But to leave our jobs now

and quit when the task is only half finished

would be false to the wives and children

our fighting men left behind.

Perhaps you know that radio programmes like this one

are recorded and sent to our fighting forces everywhere overseas,

for their entertainment and to bring them a smile or two from home.

This is our job,

the thing we know best how to do.

So let's all keep going, keep working,

and keep faith with the ones who are still doing battle

for the things we believe in.

Goodnight. Goodnight, all.

# Protect my sons

# Where'er they be

# And bring them

# Safely home. #

This is the National Broadcasting Company.

NBC CHIMES PLAY

The whole world must be cleansed of the evil.

The power of our people to defend themselves against all enemies

will be proved in the Pacific War,

as it has been proved in Europe.

For the triumph of spirit and of arms

which we have won,

and for its promise to the peoples everywhere

who join us in the love of freedom, it is fitting

that we as a nation give thanks to Almighty God,

who has strengthened us and given us the victory.

Now, therefore, I, Harry S Truman,

President of the United States of America,

do hereby appoint Sunday May 13th, 1945,

to be a day of prayer.

I call upon the people of the United States, whatever their faith,

to unite in offering joyful thanks to God

for the victory we have won, and to pray that He will support us

to the end of our present struggle, and guide us into the ways of peace.

I also call upon my countrymen to dedicate this day of prayer

to the memory of those who have given their lives

to make possible our victory.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand

and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Ladies and gentlemen,

you have just heard the President of the United States.

Now our national anthem.

MUSIC: The Star-Spangled Banner

First day of the false report of the war's end...

..we were, I think, at Linz, Austria.

And I remember a wild celebration going on.

"The war is over."

And, er...

..there were many of

the striped-uniform concentration camp people

on the streets.

And I was called in to drive a half-track for Major Tuthill.

Two radio operators, Major Tuthill and I,

to follow a Russian staff car.

And we took off like mad, following the Russians,

and I remember driving up the road to the camp.

There were the ex-prisoners, going up and down the road.

There are no words to describe the sense of freedom

and this jubilation that took place

during this liberation time.

And, of course, now we were seeing army uniforms and, um...

..and the Allied soldiers, who were headquartered wherever they were,

and the soldiers were walking the streets.

And my girlfriend and I had a little tiny pad each,

because there was still not stuff in the stores -

they were still basically shuttered.

And the two words of English...

Actually, I knew three by the time I came to this country.

But the first two words I learned were "Signature, please."

And we invented this activity -

we would go to a soldier and hand them this pad

and little stubby pencil and ask for a signature.

And I still have those too, someplace. You do?

This little pad of signatures,

even some Xs where they didn't... couldn't obviously write.

And, um...again, mostly British and Canadians.

And I remember that the other one was "candy" and "please".

So we would give them... We'd ask for their signature

and then we would ask for "candy, please".

Because, of course, they had thrown this stuff from the trucks

as they came through on the tanks and so on.

And, um...

And there was this great loving and, er...

..and rejoicing and great love for the Americans and British

and everything.

We were liberated the last day of the war.

That was V Day. May 8th, 1945.

That was the day of our liberation.

At the end of it, we were singing a song which says...

.."God, let us... Give us...

"Give us a chance to get to freedom, get to Poland,

"get back to Poland, to our country."

It gave us spirit. It gave us a reason to live again.

An American got up and he says, "You are all free.

"We are Americans, you're all free. You don't have to be afraid."

Well, he had a gun, he had a nice mezuzah, you know...

And all of a sudden he pulled out about four, five

Yiddishi, Jewish flags.

And they stand them up and he says, "Who is a Jew?"

Because we had a few French people over there too,

and other nationalities. Most of them Jews.

He says, "You'll stay here and we're going to play the Jewish anthem."

They put them in the trucks and jeeps,

and took them to hospitals, or they made tents and they put them in.

They gave them water, they gave them...

..packets from the Red Cross.

They let us know that the soldiers are coming.

And we went out to greet the American soldiers.

And we dropped to their feet and we kissed their boots.

They... Some of them that couldn't walk, they were just crawling,

they picked up and carried them into the camps.

I would ask you all to remember those of our comrades

who fell in the struggle.

They gave their lives that others might have freedom,

and no man can do more than that.

MUSIC: The White Cliffs Of Dover by Vera Lynn

# There'll be bluebirds over

# The white cliffs of Dover

# Tomorrow

# Just you wait and see... #

CHURCHILL: The German war is, therefore, at an end.

After years of intense preparation,

Germany hurled herself on Poland

at the beginning of September 1939,

and, in pursuance of our guarantee to Poland,

and in common with the French republic,

Great Britain, the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations,

declared war upon this foul aggression.

Finally, almost the whole world was combined against the evildoers,

who are now prostrate before us.

But let us not forget for a moment

the toils and efforts that lie ahead.

We must now devote all our strength and resources

to the completion of our task,

both at home and abroad.

Advance, Britannia!

Long live the cause of freedom!

God save the King!

# There'll be love and laughter

# And peace ever after

# Tomorrow, when the world is free. #

GEORGE VI: Men and women,

you have fought, striven and endured to your utmost.

None knows that better than I do.

And, as your king, I thank with a full heart

those who bore arms so valiantly

on land and sea or in the air,

and all civilians, shouldering their many burdens,

carried them unflinchingly, without complaint.

With those memories in our minds,

let us think what it was that has upheld us

through nearly six years of suffering and peril.

The knowledge that everything was at stake -

our freedom, our independence, our very existence as a people,

but the knowledge also that, in defending ourselves,

we were defending the liberties of the whole world.

That our cause was the cause not of this nation only,

not of this Empire and Commonwealth only,

but of every land where freedom is cherished

and law and liberty go hand-in-hand.

# Just you wait and see. #

# We're going to hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line

# Have you any dirty washing, Mother dear?

# We're going to hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line

# Cos the washing day is here

# Whether the weather may be wet or fine

# We'll just rub along without a care

# We're going to hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line

# If that Siegfried Line's still there. #