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Things are a little different this May bank holiday. We’re not just talking about the obvious lockdown element. For 2020, it will take place on a Friday instead of the usual bank holiday Monday to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of VE Day, a celebration of wartime victory following the surrender of German forces in May 1945. The Royal British Legion had a number of events planned, but has since overhauled the schedule with live-stream activities that will allow people to participate from home.
On Friday, there will be a two-minute silence at 11am to honour the service of the Second World War generation. And at 9pm, the Legion is inviting the whole country to join a mass singalong of ‘We’ll Meet Again’, a 1939 song made famous by ‘the Forces’ Sweetheart’ Dame Vera Lynn. During the war, Lynn travelled the world to perform the song in her outdoor concerts for troops. In 1941, she had her own radio programme, ‘Sincerely Yours’, where she and her quartet would sing requests sent in by soldiers.
Lynn is now 103, and still popular – when she released a compilation album in 2017, it went to Number Three, making her the first centenarian to have an album in the charts. ‘We’ll Meet Again’ might be dripping in sentimentality, but right now, its lyrics hit a little too close to home: ‘We’ll meet again/ Don’t know where/ Don’t know when/ But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.’
The Royal British Legion’s assistant director of commemorative events, Bob Gamble, said: ‘There are many parallels between the struggles of the Second World War and what we are going through today. As we mark 75 years since Victory in Europe, we look to our Second World War generation to learn from their experiences, and the Legion continues our critical work to protect them from the threat we currently face.’
If you don’t want to belt it out alone, switch on the BBC broadcast. It’ll be covering the singalong right after the Queen’s address to the nation. And here are the full lyrics, so you don’t end up mumbling your way through it on your doorstep:
We’ll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we’ll meet again
Some sunny day
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do
Till the blue skies chase
Those dark clouds far away
And I will just say hello
To the folks that you know
Tell them you won't be long
They’ll be happy to know
That, as I saw you go
You were singing this song
We’ll meet again
Don’t know where
Don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again
Some sunny day
And I will just say hello
To the folks that you know
Tell them you won’t be long
They’ll be happy to know
That, as I saw you go
You were singing this song
We’ll meet again
Don’t know where
Don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again
Some sunny day
Find more VE Day activities here.
The London Eye is turning white, red and blue for VE Day.
Plans to ease London’s lockdown are due to be announced this week. Find out more here.