veterans join royals to mark VE Day 80th anniversary

On VE Day 1945, she went to London with a colleague to celebrate: “We waited outside the palace chanting ‘We want the King.’ The royal family came out, and we went mad cheering. People were climbing lamp posts; I climbed onto a window ledge shouting ‘three cheers for the British navy!’”

King Charles told her: “We owe you all an immense debt of gratitude. Without you things could have been very different.”

Marjorie Gadd, who was nine on VE Day, said she remembers people rushing out shouting: “It’s over”.

Gadd, 89, said she was home from school in Falmouth, Cornwall, recovering from an illness when her mother sent her to the local post office to buy some stamps.

“A lot of people were waiting for the postmaster to come out of the back office, when suddenly she rushed out shouting, ‘It’s over, it’s over, we’ve won!’,” she recalled.

“Safe to say I didn’t get any stamps — I ran straight home to tell my mother.”

While her mother did not believe her at first, eventually Gadd, her mother and younger brother heard the news confirmed on the radio.

“My mother said, ‘You’ve seen history, you’ll never forget this’ — and she was right,” she said.

D-Day veteran Alfred Littlefield, 101, told Prince George it was “very important” for him to attend the commemorations as “there aren’t many of us left”.

Alfred, originally from Cosham near Portsmouth, told the Prince of Wales and his son about joining the D-Day landings, bravely swimming to the beach under heavy shell fire.

Inquisitive George asked: “What was it like when you were coming in?”, to which Alfred replied: “Pretty awful”.

After talking to the father and son duo for a few minutes, Alfred, now 101, turned to George and said: “You know, it’s very important you are here today. It’s days like this that we should use to talk about things like this, so the younger generation can have some understanding.”

Dougie Hyde, 99, who was 18 when he joined the Merchant Navy in 1944, was among the veterans greeted by Princes William and George at Buckingham Palace.

Hyde started out as a fireman, stoking boilers, and later joined a secret operation contributing to the liberation of Europe, spending months going back and forth to the beaches delivering munitions and amphibious vehicles.

Showing an avid interest, George asked Hyde: “Did you ever get shot at?” and “Did you ever see a U-boat?”

Afterwards, Hyde said: “I was very impressed with the lad’s interest. I told him luckily I wasn’t ever shot at but we did lose one of our fleet in the Channel. He was very polite and listened with interest. Whenever I used to do talks to young kids, that’s all you ever wanted, for them to listen and have a little understanding of those days.”

Henry Ducker, 104, from Tewkesbury, Gloucstershire, the oldest Second World War veteran to join the Buckingham Palace tea party, said he had not spoken about his experiences for 80 years.

Chatting with others about his invitation to the party, he said: “It was wonderful and not something I have seen in my lifetime and will never again. It was an honour to be here. And I hope we will never see a war again.

“I never told anyone about my time in the war for 80 years. I never got my medals. Then my great grandchildren found out, and I got my medals in a Christmas box.”

A woman who wrote a book about her experiences as an evacuee said that the Princess of Wales had asked her for a copy when they met at this afternoon’s Buckingham Palace tea party.

Margaret Wood was evacuated from Chingford in east London to the Midlands at the start of the war, remaining there until May 1945.

She said: “My mother also wrote about it and it was her reaction to sending her children away.” And Kate? “She is just an ordinary lady, just a mum.”

Ruth Klauber, aged 101, a former mechanic, said the flypast over The Mall brought back many memories. Klauber, who was born in Germany but left with her family when Hitler came to power in 1933, enlisted with the Royal Air Force to fight the Nazis. “I felt that I’d better be a flight mechanic, although I had no idea what a spanner was in those days,” she told the BBC.

Klauber said that watching the Lancaster bomber fly over Buckingham Palace made her think of a Lancaster pilot friend who died in the war. “It was all a very long time ago, but memories do come back,” she said.

Klauber was recently awarded two medals for her service, which she wears with pride.

The Queen paid tribute to her family’s military service with a 12th Royal Lancers brooch — her late father’s regiment — pinned to her sapphire blue wool crepe dress and coat.

Major Bruce Shand served with the 12th Lancers during the Second World War and was awarded the Military Cross in 1940 during the retreat to Dunkirk, and again in 1942 for his efforts in North Africa. He was later wounded and taken prisoner while fighting in the same region. He died in June 2006, aged 89.

Ian Tyson, 85, the guest of honour on Eel Pie, is a former submariner who has lived on the island for 40 years. Pinned to his blazer were the six medals and the “dolphins” he earned over 31 years of service on board hunter-killer and deterrent submarines.

Using the skills he picked up as a communications specialist in the Royal Navy, he made children laugh by reciting their names in Morse code.

Tyson was six years old when the war ended, and recalled running for the cover of his dining table as bombs exploded near his home in Coventry and, later, by the south coast.

“Another thing that is burnt into my mind was just before D-Day. They were building up the fleet by the coast for the big invasion. I went out to play with my pals and I’ll never forget this one American soldier,” he said.

“He came over to me, got down to my level to talk, and gave me all his barley sugar sweets. It was the look on his face that I remember, very serious. I didn’t know it at the time but he was about to storm the beaches. I think he had a son that looked like me back in the States and this was perhaps his way of saying goodbye. The next morning they all disappeared. No one knew where they had gone until we heard about the attack later on.”

By Charlie Parker

Tucked away in the middle of the Thames, the residents of Eel Pie Island are throwing a unique VE Day party.

Once the UK’s largest hippy commune, where the Rolling Stones found fame in the early 1960s, it is now home to an eclectic mix of artists, inventors, steelyard workers and musicians.

Dozens of the island’s 150 inhabitants, some dressed in “wartime” attire, have gathered for a feast in gazebos erected along the main pathway.

Beer, Pimms and wine flowed as they ate Eton mess, listened to Second World War poetry recitals and sang along to Vera Lynn songs. Many leapt to their feet and scurried to the island’s only footbridge to catch a glimpse of the flypast as the Red Arrows roared overhead.

Residents have also been busy organising a flotilla to sail around the island, in Twickenham, South West London, on Thursday night. The lantern-lit procession of boats is another “tip of the hat” to those who gave their lives fighting in the war, but also a nod to the island’s “spirit of defiance and pride”.

During a sing-song of We’ll Meet Again and The White Cliffs of Dover, David Jefferys, the mayor of Bromley said: “It was fantastic to see veterans and young people alike at the the different events across the borough this week. These events bring people together from across different generations which is wonderful to see. And even since Covid, people are identifying with their local areas more and coming out to celebrating things together.

“We’ve also seen events where Ukrainian refugees have been in attendance, so this day is also important for them too. I think a lot of people are worried that some of the implications of the world wars still aren’t over.”

Gareth Bacon, MP for Orpington and shadow secretary of state for transport, went along. He said: “One of the best things about my job is that I get to meet great people who do good things for the community, like on this street and across the constituency.

“When I was growing up, some of the first memories I had were thinking this red, white and blue Union Jack flag was really cool. It’s motivated me all my life. And now I think being proud of your country is actually something to be celebrated.”

For Olwel Williams, 84, who has lived in Glentrammon Gardens, Orpington, for 43 years, the celebration was bittersweet. “My father was in the royal artillery. My family lived in Battersea at the time, and they experienced bombing,” she said. “It was quite devastating for them to live through and had an impact on them all of their life. My father would never talk about the war, and it’s funny how over the years you forget these things.”

Her husband, Vincent, said: “It’s really good to celebrate this sort of occasion, which is so important because it can be easily forgotten. I suspect we are less patriotic now than we were in the past. I think war brought people together, really. Some people of the younger generation, it can be hard to appreciate the scale of the wars and what happened.”

By Ellie McDonald

On a sleepy avenue in Glentrammon Gardens, Orpington, torrential rain could not dampen the spirits of residents gathering in the street to celebrate VE day. The road, lined with Union Jack bunting, VE Day flags and gazebos, had been transformed. So had the residents, wearing top hats and Union Jack scarves, jazz playing in the background.

Ted Watson, 78, a former black cab, dressed in a flat cap and tie, said: ”Today is very important for me to remember the veterans, the people that served their country and never came back.

“My dad was a paratrooper in the Second World War in North Africa, so it means a lot to me to come out here and celebrate today. We’re a wonderful country, and I think the wonderful people that have done their duty for us should be recognised more.”

The Princess of Wales wore a brooch fit for the occasion — an RAF wings pin. Her grandfather served in the RAF as a fighter pilot during the Second World War.

The Princess Royal wore the uniform of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps). This was the uniform worn by Princess Elizabeth when she appeared on the Palace balcony with her parents on VE Day in 1945.

The Prince of Wales was dressed in the RAF No.1 uniform.

HMS Belfast commemorated 80 years since the end of the Second World War with a gun salute.

The Town-class light cruiser, commissioned in August 1939, was part of the naval blockade against Germany but underwent two years of repairs after triggering a mine, returning to action in 1943 as an escort for Arctic convoys and assisting in the destruction of the German battleship Scharnhorst. Belfast went on to serve in the Korean war and, since 1971 has been moored in the Pool of London as a museum.

The vessel hosted a private VE Day 80 anniversary event attended by war veterans and, later this evening, will hold an “after-hours” party with music from the 1940s.

War survivors, refugees and local families are holding a VE Day street party in London’s former docklands, which were bombed heavily during the war.

Today’s event was organised by the Bengali Association, local refugee support and other community groups, and features 1940s music and dancing, Morse code demonstrations and food ranging from a barbecue to VE Day biryani.

At St Peter’s Church, visitors explored an exhibition of people’s connections to wartime events. Eileen Massett, 93, recalled being evacuated from east London to Wisbech, Norfolk. “It was frightening [in London], there were bombs everywhere, London was in a terrible state,” she said.
“Tradition should always go on. Things have happened in the past and they should never be forgotten.”

Guests are enjoying a VE Day street party hosted by the prime minister at Downing Street. Two long tables with red and gold chairs were decorated with flowers, miniature Union Jacks and table mats.

At each seat was a commemorative plate and mug bearing with the words VE Day 80, soon to be laden with, among other treats, Victoria sponge cake, scotch eggs and pork pies.

Among the guests were Second World War veterans Ruth Brook Klauber and Colin Deverell, both aged 101.

Musicians from the Grenadier Guards band played songs to the guests as they received drinks on arrival.

The Prince of Wales spoke of the importance of preserving veterans’ stories as he was joined by his son and former service personnel at a tea party in Buckingham Palace.

William smiled as he shook hands with veterans and said it was “very important” for Prince George and the “next generation” to hear the stories from those who fought in the war.

George listened intently as his father chatted to Alfred Littlefield, 101, who served during D-Day.
William later told veteran Douglas Hyde, who joined the merchant navy aged 18 in 1944, that his son was “very keen” to ask the former serviceman some questions.

The pair joined the party as veterans and senior politicians enjoyed a selection of finger sandwiches, soup and homemade scotch eggs in the Marble Hall.

Ever wondered what a flypast looks like from the cockpit of a Hawk jet? The Red Arrows can help.

Norman Trickett, 101, was among the veterans watching proceedings alongside the royal family — and made the Queen laugh with a magic trick that involved tying string around her finger before whipping it off.

Mr Trickett said: “I was dared to show the magic trick to the Queen, so I did it. She loved it, so I’m glad. I’m chuffed to be here, very proud.”

David Bieda, another Soho resident, said that his mother was living in the East End during the Blitz.

“She described to me the night that the East End was bombed and all of that part of London was on fire,” he said. “And I went shortly before my mother died, we went on a tour of the East End around where my grandfather’s pub was. She was in tears because 80 per cent of it wasn’t there anymore.

“VE Day is a reminder of the fact that we now have another conflict, which I never thought I’d see in my lifetime in Europe.”

Wendy Hardcastle, 82, has been a resident in Soho for nearly 60 years. While she doesn’t remember VE Day herself, her husband had been travelling to east Asia to fight on that day 80 years ago.

“My memories are slightly of rationing afterwards. Powdered egg, which was made into scrambled egg, which we loved. We were actually very sad when they stopped making it,” Hardcastle said, standing by the tables as she set up the meal.

“Interestingly, my husband, on VE Day, he was in the navy and he was sailing to the far east. So he had victory in Europe away, but the war was still going on in the far east. And so he was going into a warzone.”

Just past the buzzing crowds of Trafalgar Square and the red lanterns of China Town, the Soho Society, a group of residents in the area, are gathering on a quiet side street for a traditional street party.

White tables have been adorned with Union Jacks, red candles, and matching red carnations and daisies, with the best traditional British foods topping off the festive spread.

Golden-brown sausage rolls, Tunnock’s tea cakes, British sherry (but French wine) and an enormous trifle have been laid out for residents, each with miniature Union Jack cocktail sticks to decorate the feast. The residents tucked in before a short speech from the Lord Mayor of Westminster.

In an interview the BBC after the VE Day celebrations, Camilla talks about the importance of letters among her generation.

She said: “Letters from home were very much the lynchpins of our existence and the arrival of the post at irregular intervals never failed in its excitement.

“I still recall the thrill some weeks after coming into the camp when somebody appeared from the library to tell me that there were a dozen letters waiting for me on my bed.

“To later generations it’s hard to understand the emphasis, particularly in wartime, of the amenity that was put on correspondence, not to mention the art of precis writing [letter cards and sheets of prescribed lengths].”

Queen Camilla shared an extract from her father’s wartime diary when she met the veteran Douglas Cracknell during a pre-recorded exchange broadcast by the BBC.

Cracknell, 99, from Cransford, Suffolk, was awarded the Légion d’Honneur by the French government for military distinction during the Second World War.

He told Camilla that he narrowly avoided being hit in the face with machine gun fire.

The Queen, recalling the service of her father Major Bruce Shand, who was awarded two military crosses, said: “My father …was shot at and the bullet went in one side of his face and came out the other. And he was so lucky because it didn’t hit his teeth or his tongue.”

People are now thinning out from Canada Gate. While well attended, the crowd had not quite fully packed out the square outside Buckingham Palace.

Dave, a now slightly soggy man from Bromley, said he felt that the security had been a bit over the top, with many road closures, and as a result he had not had the greatest of views of the parade.

But he said he thought the flypast had been “brilliant”, and he had always made an attempt to see them when he could.

The heavens have now fully opened, and a sea of umbrellas has opened on the mall as the crowds slowly make their way home.

Fortuitous timing for the flypast, though less helpful for those still at the back of the queue.

Prince Louis, seven, tapped his hands on the edge of the palace balcony in time with the music while Prince George, 11, spoke to his father as the flypast roared overhead.

After the flypast, the King looked emotional as the band played the national anthem in the palace forecourt under the balcony.

The band played the Dam Busters theme song as a Second World War bomber flew overhead, followed by RAF heavy-lift aircraft.

Then came RAF Typhoon and F35 fighters, and a flight of red arrows and more Typhoon jets, before the band played God Save the King.

Members of the royal family watched with tilted heads from Buckingham Palace’s balcony as the VE Day flypast soared over.

The King and Queen as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children were on the balcony.

The first aircraft, a Lancaster Bomber, reached the palace at 1.45pm with more planes following behind.

Veterans in Buckingham Palace smiled and looked up as the flypast went over.

Army veteran Joe Mines, 100, waved as the planes went over, while others applauded.

Here’s a reminder of the route the planes will take, as the excitement gears up before the flypast

The crowd has been allowed to walk up The Mall to take prime position outside Buckingham Palace, with a few breaking in to a jog to get ahead of the others to get right up to the gates. A band is playing out front to entertain them.

The weather remains cold with the odd light shower, but that doesn’t seem to have put off the crowd.

Veterans will enjoy sandwiches, scotch eggs and scones at the tea party at Buckingham Palace.

Also on the menu are potted shrimps with brown bread and butter, egg and bacon quiche, vegetable pasties and sausage rolls.

There will also be lemon and carrot cake, chocolate cake, treacle tarts and strawberries and cream.
They will dine on large tables in the Marble Hall which has been decorated in bunting made from fabrics recycled from the royal estate.

The Prince and Princess of Wales shook the hands of veterans sitting on the Queen Victoria Memorial viewing platform after the VE Day parade.

William and Kate greeted and exchanged words with several special guests before escaping the rain with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who were also in attendance.

The Princess of Wales is wearing a dress by Emilia Wickstead, hat by Sean Barrett and an RAF wings brooch.

Many of those who watched the procession from the specially built stand applauded at the parade’s end.

A light drizzle has started on The Mall but crowds are still waving flags and holding phones in the air as their await the Red Arrow flypast.

A few umbrellas have been put up, but those watching are still cheering on the procession.

The King helped to wrap up the veteran Joy Trew, 98, in blankets as the pair sat next to each other while watching the VE Day military procession.

The King chatted to Joy Trew, 98, sitting on his left, who enlisted in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force aged 17 in 1944 and served as a wireless operator working at RAF Chicksands Priory in Bedfordshire, a station taking morse code messages from stations in Germany.

Beside him was Camilla, who had the Royal British Legion veteran Jack Mortimer on her right.

Kate was sitting beside another Royal British Legion veteran, Bernard Morgan, who had earlier appeared to show her some vintage photographs. Morgan was the was the youngest RAF sergeant to land on D-Day at the age of 20.

The Queen spread what appeared to be a grey blanket over her lap as she sat watching the VE Day parade, to protect from the breezy bank holiday Monday weather. She later placed her hand on her hat in an apparent effort to keep it steady in the wind.

Prince Louis was seen tugging on his father’s uniform as he watched the VE Day military procession. He also pushed back his hair and blew at his fringe in Monday’s breezy conditions.

The King stood and saluted as the start of the procession reached the Queen Victoria Memorial.

Before the procession arrived, cadets and scouts watching on cheered and waved to the royal family from the paths nearby.

Crowds on Whitehall cheered and clapped as Ukraine’s marching detachment passed the Cenotaph. Some spectators stood on walls and street furniture to get a better view of the procession.

There was a sea of colour down Whitehall as the Band of the Irish Guards, wearing red, marched down Whitehall, closely followed by the flags of the Commonwealth nations.

The royal family are speaking intently to the veterans they are sat next to in the specially constructed platform for guests of honour, including Second World War veterans.

Sat in front of the Queen Victoria memorial, between two statues, it is decked out with bunting and flowers. Sir Keir Starmer is seated just behind the King.

Their view down The Mall will give them a prime position viewing the procession as it arrives astride the flag waving crowd.

The King has been joined by the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and other working members of the royal family for the VE Day celebrations.

There was applause from the crowds as the King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, took their seats to watch the military procession arrive at Buckingham Palace.

William shook the hand of one veteran as he passed him to take his seat, and his children followed his example with the Princess of Wales the last to greet the serviceman as she sat beside him.

Charles is wearing Naval Uniform No 1 dress, with no medals or decorations, the same uniform worn by his grandfather King George VI on the Buckingham Palace balcony on VE Day, 1945.

Similarly, the Princess Royal is wearing the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, the same uniform worn by her late mother Queen Elizabeth II on the balcony on VE Day.

Queen Camilla is wearing a sapphire blue wool crepe dress and coat, by Fiona Clare, with the 12th Royal Lancers Brooch, Her Majesty’s late father’s regiment.

The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery is leading the march. Crowds looked on as the procession approachs Buckingham Palace.

Quiet has descended over Buckingham Palace, as the gathered crowd awaits the march. William, Kate and their children have taken their seats among veterans of the conflict.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, chief of defence staff, has been speaking about how important today’s event is to both serving and former service personnel.

“This is all about our veterans,” he said. “The service they had provided, and the debt of gratitude we must show them.”

He also said the 80th anniversary was particularly poignant because it could be the last time several veterans of the Second World War will be alive to share their experiences.

He added that the inclusion of Ukrainian soldiers parading down The Mall was especially striking, given that the country was currently making the same kind of sacrifices that Britain was asked to 80 years before.

The Princess Royal arrives at Buckingham Palace before the start of the military procession, which will include about 1,300 members of the armed forces.

Commonwealth nations, Ukraine and Nato allies are also taking part in the parade for Victory in Europe Day.

David Smith, a military royal engineer from 1960-72, travelled from Lincolnshire to honour the veterans at the parade.

“It’s about patriotism. It’s what we do,” the 79-year-old said. Smith has marched at the Cenotaph for 26 years and is watching the parade on Monday at The Mall.

His wife, Muriel, 77, said: “Where we live in Lincolnshire, the ‘bomber county’, there is always a bomber base five miles from you. There’s still air raid shelters where we live. I just love the songs, the ceremony, everything. I’ve heard some stories about Victory Day. Some naughty stories!”

Horses and gun carriages move down the Mall towards their starting point, as the procession is due to start in less than an hour.

Five years ago it was a muted affair as Covid stalked the land, but VE Day 2025 — the last major anniversary at which there will be a significant veteran presence — is set to go off with a bang.

The 80th anniversary of the Nazi surrender and the end of the Second World War in Europe will be marked with both poignancy and celebration, as solemn services and ceremonies are set to be mixed with flypasts, street parties and a concert at Horse Guards Parade.

• Read in full: When is VE Day? UK plans to celebrate with parties and concerts

One group of women gathered outside Buckingham Palace have brought along song sheets in the hope of cajoling the crowd into a group musical performance.

Mandy Ellis, 67, from the Midlands, said: “We do all the royal events. I’ve been doing this [for] 60 years now. We all get the gang together — there’s seven of us [that] come down. The oldest is my Auntie Linda, she’s 87. My daughter Cara, she’s the youngest.”

Wearing a Union flag hat, she added: “I sing in the local choir, we’ve had some song sheets over the years for different events so I just adapted them at home. We’ve got everything from Land of Hope and Glory, We’ll Meet Again, Pack Up Your Troubles, the national anthem.

“It’s the smallest thing we can do to say thank you for 80 years of peace and the sacrifice everyone made.”

The King and Queen are “looking forward” to the VE day commemorations as they prepare to join other members of the royal family on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

Charles and Camilla will watch the military parade and flypast before hosting a tea party for veterans later today.

• Royals want no more distractions before VE Day after Prince Harry interview

A palace aide said: “The King, Queen and other members of the royal family are much looking forward to all the week’s VE Day events, when they will unite with the rest of the nation and those across the Commonwealth and wider world in celebrating, commemorating and giving thanks to the wartime generation whose selfless devotion, duty and service should stand as an enduring example to us all — and must never be forgotten.”

Despite the wonderful weather over the weekend, the sun has not yet decided to shine on The Mall today.

But neither that, nor a flurry of tree pollen from Green Park, have put off the crowds.

Groups of Scouts have been given pride of place at Canada Gate, situated opposite the royal balcony, prime location for viewing the head of the parade.

The organisation, founded by Robert Baden-Powell in 1907, promotes outdoor activities and life skills for young people. King Charles became patron of the scouts in June last year.

Dwayne Fields, Chief Scout of the UK, said he was proud that members from Scotland to the southeast could come together to mark VE Day.

Ukrainian soldiers have said it was an “honour” to be a part of today’s military procession along the Mall, which is due to start shortly after midday.

One soldier, known only as Major Paul for security reasons, told the BBC’s Today programme the anniversary “reminds us how precious peace is [and] how important it is to protect it”.

Ukrainian troops will take part in a separate formation during the procession. They will be easy to spot because they will be carrying a Ukrainian flag.

Lizzie McCrae MacIntyre, a retired Women’s Royal Air Force veteran, arrived at Admiralty Arch at 4am in preparation for the parade.

MacIntyre, who travelled from Surrey, said: “It’s so important to remember those that didn’t make it home. My dad was military, my brother was air force.”

Geoffrey York, 71, the Household Cavalry veteran, said: “We are all ex-military. We were here for the coronation, we camped out for three nights for the Queen’s funeral. It’s a big day for us to pay our respects. My dad was a prisoner of war in Tobruk, Libya. He escaped in 1944.”

The British actor Timothy Spall will open VE Day 80th anniversary celebrations today when he recites some of Sir Winston Churchill’s victory speech from 1945.

The 68-year-old, who played the war-time prime minister in The King’s Speech, will read several extracts, including when Churchill told Britons, “this is not victory of a party or of any class. It’s a victory of the great British nation as a whole”.

Two women gathered outside Buckingham Palace made their own dresses for the occasion.

Grace Gothard, from Ghana, describing her Union Jack dress, said: “I made this dress personally. So anytime there’s any royal occasion I make my own dresses. It took two weeks to make. The last one was the King’s coronation and that dress is in a museum now.”

Satvinder Cubb, wearing a dress which reads Lest We Forget, said she made her VE Day attire by hand.

“I had a Union flag one before, but this year I wanted something simple to represent all the soldiers that actually fought. It took just a few hours to make because it’s actually two flags joined together. And I don’t have a sewing machine so it was all by hand,” she said.

The pair met at the Queen’s Jubilee and have attended royal events together ever since. They arrived at The Mall at 6am today.

“I know people who have actually fought in the war. I have a very close friend, he’s 94, and was 14 at the time,” Cubb said. It’s just about thanking them all. We’re here for a reason and have freedom now. It’s important for us to be a part of it.”

It’s June 7, 1944, and Hitler’s fate is sealed.

To the east, Russia’s industrial might and force of numbers are sweeping German forces back. To the west, the Allies have secured the beachheads in Normandy. They control the Channel and the skies over France, and they’re about to send men and materiel pouring into the Continent. And to the south, Italy has surrendered. Rome fell two days ago.

It’s now only a question of when Nazism will fall …

Inevitable does not mean easy, though. The last 11 months of the war will see fierce fighting as Hitler refuses to countenance surrender and throws hundreds of thousands of men into hopeless causes.

• Read in full: How the Allies won the Second World War in Europe

Crowds clutching Union Jacks are beginning to gather on The Mall to secure prime positions for the parade and flypast.

The world’s press has gathered at Canada Gate, opposite Buckingham Palace, with a prime view of the platform where the royal family will watch hundreds of soldiers march towards the royal residence before an RAF flypast later today.

Green Park has been surrounded with a ring of steel in a massive security operation, to ensure nothing can interrupt celebrations.

This was much to the consternation of one jogger, seen arguing with a security guard that they couldn’t possibly have closed off the entire park for the event.

Crowds are building along The Mall near Buckingham Palace.

Caroline Tomlinson, 59, who travelled from Doncaster to watch today’s parade, said she arrived at the Palace at 2pm on Sunday afternoon and camped overnight.

Dressed in Union flags, she said: “It was very cold but I dressed accordingly and got through it. Slept about three times in one-hour bursts. I’m absolutely hoping to catch a glimpse of the royals.”

She added: “I’ve been watching lots of footage from 1945 when everybody was gathering outside the palace, so just great to be a part of it. Here we are again 80 years later to do the very same.”

When Germany finally capitulated to the Allies, in May 1945, Winston Churchill wrote that the surrender was “the signal for the greatest outburst of joy in the history of mankind”.

The reality was a rather more mixed affair. There was boisterous jubilation of course, crowds cheering in Whitehall, flags waved in Piccadilly, and a young, uniformed Princess Elizabeth joined the parade. Bonfires were lit in towns and villages across the land. Britain had prevailed and the nation was glad.

But five and a half years of war had exacted an enormous cost and it was not a moment of unalloyed triumph. Having poured so much of its life force into the struggle, Britain was impoverished, exhausted and anxious. The future was uncertain, many families remained sundered and the war with Japan was unfinished.

• Read in full: VE Day in the words of ordinary Britons: ‘A proper anti-climax’

Sir Keir Starmer has said that “we owe a debt of gratitude to those prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country”, before VE Day celebrations later today.

In a post on X this morning, the prime minister said that the government is “giving veterans better access to housing, employment, health and welfare support”.

“As we celebrate VE Day, we honour all those who have served in our armed forces,” he added.

Many veterans taking part in VE Day commemorations have not told their stories before, said the director general of the Royal British Legion.

Mark Atkinson told BBC Breakfast: “We want to make sure that all of our veterans are at the very heart of these commemorations so we put the call out to invite people to step forward, to share their experiences, to tell their stories and to be here today at Buckingham Palace for the start of what is a week of commemorations and celebrations.

“But so many people coming forward having never really shared in any detail their experiences of the Second World War so we’re delighted to put them right at the centre of these commemorations.”

In Whitehall, where the military procession for the 80th anniversary of VE Day will pass later, the Cenotaph has been draped in a large Union flag.

It is the first time the war memorial has been decorated in such a way since it was unveiled by King George V more than a century ago, in 1920.

A hundred metres away, the base of the monument to The Women Of World War II is covered in poppy wreaths.

The Royal Air Force will today roar across the capital to celebrate 80 years since Victory in Europe. It said on X that “at 1.45pm, subject to weather, serviceability, and operational requirements, RAF aircraft will take to the skies above London and over Buckingham Palace”.

Military bands and units paraded through central London on Saturday night in a dress rehearsal for the procession later today.

Bands, soldiers and mounted units gather from about 2.30am on Sunday to trace the route they will take.

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Foinette, 47, the Brigade Major of the Household Division, who is in charge of the ceremony, said he “wonders what people coming out of nightclubs must think when they fall onto a military parade”.

He said: “Once you have got over the shock of trying to climb a horse in the morning, there is something quite extraordinary about parading through London in the middle of the night.”

Alan Kennett, who will turn 101 on May 29, will formally start a military procession of 1,300 members of the armed forces marching through the streets of central London. Kennett, from Lichfield, was 18 years old when he joined the RAF in 1942.

The 100-year-old, who worked with a variety of aircraft but insisted he loved nothing more than the Spitfires, recalled in an interview with the PA news agency of having a streak of “general mischief” during his service.

He added: “My commanding officer said I had a record of four and a half years of ‘undetected crime’.”

After the D-Day landings, as Germany’s surrender approached, Kennett was in Celle, north Germany, in a cinema with other men in his unit as the “whole thing slowed down”.

The height of the action will kick off from Parliament Square in London at midday.

The actor Timothy Spall, who played Sir Winston Churchill in the film The King’s Speech, will recite extracts from the wartime prime minister’s VE Day speech on May 8.

Then a 100-year-old RAF veteran, Alan Kennett, will formally begin a procession of 1,300 members of the Armed forces through London. They will march to Whitehall, then to Trafalgar Square, Admiralty Arch, The Mall, and finally to Buckingham Palace.

After that will be a military flypast, with the first aircraft set to reach the skies above the Palace at 1.45pm.

The King and Queen will watch the procession and flypast from the balcony, and host a tea party at the palace. Meanwhile, organisations and individuals around the country will host their own events to mark the celebration.