[West Ender]

We should celebrate VE day because, before too long in the scheme of things, the day will come when it will just be a date in the History books - when those of us to whom it means something are dead and gone. There must be quite a lot of us who had, and maybe lost, close relatives involved in WW2. My dad didn't fight in the forces - he made aircraft engines (not his choice - you didn't have a choice - if your Peacetime occupation dictated it you worked "behind the scenes") but without the likes of him, too, we would not have had a victory. It's not going to mean as much to England in 2045 so, while we're here, we MUST remember the debt we owe.

We don't make enough of August 1945, I agree. We had a family friend who fought in Burma for 4 years, during which time he became the father of a son he never saw (who died at age 3) and whose wife did not know if he was dead or alive (his letters home never reached her - it's a long story). They called those men the Forgotten Army and, sadly, they still seem to be forgotten when we celebrate the end of the war. We always have a parade, in Warrington, by the members of the Burma Star Association each August. When I see those old men, fewer every year, marching through the town in their blazers and berets I am always moved to tears.

I give thanks to our parents' and grandparents' generation who sacrificed so much for me and you.