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How a week of music, memories and a living museum will commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the end of WWII

Published Wednesday 25th May 2005

'The Boys are back in town': Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of VE Day, 6 May 2005

Mrs Pearl Bull representing the Womens Land Army lays a wreath at the Cenotaph, 6 May 2005

A Veteran of the Welsh Regiment from Neath, Glamorganshire and comrade at the Cenotaph, 6 May 2005

Flypasts, gas-mask training, code-cracking and a star-studded performance will all be part of a range of events and activities to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War announced today by Defence Secretary John Reid.

Presenting the programme, Mr Reid said:

"This year’s commemorative events will enable us to demonstrate to those who lived through the war at home and abroad that the sacrifices their generation made and the hardships they endured are still acknowledged, valued and appreciated. Her Majesty the Queen will lead the events taking place in London on National Commemoration Day, 10th July 2005.

"There will be a range of free activities in London, beginning with a 'Living Museum' in St James's Park. HRH the Prince of Wales will open the Living Museum on the 4th of July, which will host many school visits during the week. That evening will see the first projection of a series of Second World War images on the front of Buckingham Palace.

"My father served with the Scots Guards, as he got older he talked to me about the war and the respect he had for his comrades. He went to war with his brothers and was the only one who returned alive. He died 17 years ago, but I thought of him as I carried out my first duty as Secretary of State, laying a wreath at the Cenotaph.

"I hope that this year’s events will encourage people to discuss their own experience and pass-on their own family’s war story to future generations giving them the opportunity to keep these memories alive."

An important part of the commemoration is the idea of handing on the baton of remembrance to younger generations. Education and understanding will be central to the Living Museum, which will celebrate the lives of the men and women, military and civilian, who experienced the war and honour their memories. Younger visitors will be able to learn from wartime generation first hand - real 'living history' - through re-enactments and hands-on displays. As well as bringing wartime memories to life, the museum will challenge young people to empathise with their grandparents' and great-grandparents' experiences, and keep these memories alive by researching and passing on their own family’s war story to future generations. See below for further details of the living museum.

National commemorations on 10th July begin with a service of thanksgiving in Westminster Abbey attended by around 2000 people. Following the service, the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will host a Veterans' lunch in the grounds of Buckingham Palace for a further 2000 people.

During that afternoon, Horse Guards Parade will host an event of reminiscence and remembrance. It will begin with a unique evocation of the period, using entertainment to take veterans and people watching at home back in time. Stars of stage and screen will lend their support, including Robert Hardy, Simon Callow, Jane Horrocks, and Forces sweetheart Clare Sweeney. More details of this unique performance are below.

The Bach choir and a band drawn from each of the three Armed Services will play music specially composed for the event. As with the Abbey service, it will be broadcast live. Her Majesty will address the Nation, and the guns of HMS Belfast will be fired to mark the start of a period of silence.

A procession of Veterans’ standards and Banners will move down the Mall to Buckingham Palace, led by a marching band formed from the three Services. The Queen, joined by members of the Royal Family, will watch a flypast of Second World War vintage aircraft from the Palace Balcony. A drop of poppies from a Lancaster Bomber will bring the day to a spectacular close.

There will also be a fascinating chance to view items of WWII art normally hidden away from public view. This collection will be displayed in the Banqueting House in Whitehall.

"Living Museum" will open up wartime experience to all generations

It is hard for younger generations to imagine wartime life, and the Second World War will soon no longer be part of living memory. The 'Living Museum' in St James's Park, open from 4th-10th July 2005 as part of the WWII Commemorations, will be a place where the memories of the past can be kept alive in the minds of the young.

The Museum - part temporary exhibition, part interactive educational facility, part live re-enactment - will offer an unique and unprecedented opportunity for the public to see highlights from many of the Nation’s major wartime collections simultaneously. The 25,000 square-metre site will see at least 28 Museums and organisations take part to commemorate the lives of those men and women, both military and civilian, who experienced WWII – a event which shaped the lives of subsequent generations and must never be forgotten.

Visitors will be able to learn about the experience of the war generation first hand, through real 'living history'. Re-enactments and hands-on displays will give them a glimpse of wartime life, both military and domestic – from air-raids and black-outs, through to gas-mask training and code-cracking. Visitors will be able to try on the clothes, pick up the objects and join in the songs.

More than 200 people, including Veterans, curators and enthusiastic amateur historians will be on hand to answer questions. What was it like to be in a jungle camp, on an airfield on the South Coast or living through the Blitz? Who 'manned' the searchlights? How did you put your gas mask on? How did you post a letter from the Front? What was food like? What did the word 'spam' mean then?

All ages, but particularly children, will be catered for with activities including quizzes, interactive computer spy games, a site trail map, colouring charts, medal identification charts, PoW parcel wrapping, first aid demonstrations and code-breaking workshops.

Visitors will also be able to bring in WW2 objects for experts to identify. So if you want to know more about the strange thing that has been in the attic for years – bring it along! (but no weapons or ammunition, please!)

The Living Museum is open from 4th to 10th July. Be part of it!

Stars sign up for WWII commemorations

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II a gathering of stars from the stage and screen will play to Her Majesty The Queen, The Royal Family, members of the Government and an audience of 12,000 on National Commemoration Day, Sunday 10th July.

Broadcast live by the BBC, the hour-long event has been designed to resonate with those watching on large screens on the Mall or on TV at home, as well as the audience in Horse Guards Parade. It will specifically remember those that have suffered as a result of War and pay tribute to those who lived through the conflict.

A host of celebrities have signed up for the Commemoration, giving their time for nothing. Confirmed participants include:

• Robert Hardy. At the end of hostilities, Harry Potter’s Minister for Magic was training as an RAF pilot in the USA.
• Simon Callow. A star of stage and screen including Four Weddings and a Funeral.
• Bruce Forsyth Who was a war evacuee.
• Petula Clark. She has been entertaining audiences since her childhood, when she sang to troops during the War.
• Jane Horrocks. Well known for her Gracie Fields likeness.
• Claire Sweeney. The Forces Sweetheart.

The show is still being put togther and other performers will be announced over the coming weeks.

The show will include well-known speeches from Chamberlain, Churchill and others, an element of entertainment reliving the lighter side of life on the Home Front, a parade of standards and, most importantly, a time to reflect and to remember those who fell during WWII.

While the Commemorations will be designed for veterans to enjoy, they will also aim to 'hand on the baton' to the next generation so that Britain continues to remember those who either gave their lives, or for six years lived incredible, unusual and difficult lives.

The Commemoration event will be produced on a huge stage set against the backdrop of Horse Guards, which will host the performers, an orchestra drawn from all three Armed Services, and The Bach Choir. After the Commemoration event at Horse Guards, a 150-strong military band will accompany a parade down the Mall of some 600 standards and banners, from Veterans’ organizations across the UK. Music from the forecourt of Buckingham Palace will entertain the crowds, followed by a flypast of the Palace by WWII aircraft.

Further information

Entrance to the religious service at Westminster Abbey, the lunch and Horse Guards event are by invitation only. All tickets have now been allocated.

The Museum Opening hours at St James’s Park, London, SW1 will be:

Monday 4th July 14.00 – 20.00 (last entrance 19.00)
Tuesday 5th –Friday 8th 12.00 – 20.00 (last entrance 19.00)
Saturday 9th 11.00 – 20.00 (last entrance 19.00)
Sunday 10th 09.00 – 14.00

Pre-booked groups can benefit from early opening hours from 11.00 Tuesday – Friday. Booking numbers are 0207 218 5639 and 0207 807 8935.

The anniversary of VJ day will be marked by wreath laying ceremonies on 21 August 2005 (note that the actual anniversary of VJ day is 15 August however, at their request, 21 August has been agreed with the Burma Star Association). The single National Commemoration Day has been chosen as Sunday 10 July 2005 as this lies between the VE and VJ Day Anniversaries.

The Big Lottery Fund is providing a number of grants to organisations such as Museums, ex-service organisations, Home Front organisations and the TUC to fund a range of commemorative activities, including participation in the 10th July commemorations. The majority of the Home Front Recall budget is reserved for regional and local projects across the UK that commemorate the events of the Second World War and the contributions of different groups in Society. People with ideas for a local commemoration project should contact the Fund on 0845 4 102030. Applications for lottery grants should be submitted before 31 May.

The 60th Anniversary website www.mod.uk/ww2 will provide veterans with information about events being organised around the country. All enquiries from members of the public should go to the MOD Public Enquiry Office number – 0870 607 4455.

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