In these difficult times when schools are not in session it will not be possible to commemorate the ending of the Second World War with our primary-age children in the way you might have planned. Some of you have used the lesson on VE day on the site which urges pupils not to think of the day as a time of unbridled euphoria in all households.
Always remember that many servicemen were traumatised by their experiences. Four million houses in the UK were damaged, and 500,000 destroyed. On Merseyside alone, 70,000 Liverpudlians were homeless. Furthermore there was the no small matter of the war against Japan to play out. Half a million British and nearly two million Indian troops were locked in a gigantic struggle to reconquer Burma and other territories in SE Asia. It saw some of the most brutal fighting of the war and many veterans of that campaign experience great difficulty talking about it.
So let’s celebrate the victory against a cruel totalitarian regime certainly but let’s spare a thought for those who did not come home. In the same way when we rejoice at the passing of this awful pandemic let us not lose sight of the truly dreadful human cost.
