VE Day

Sixty-two years ago. Good links here, here, here, here and here.

A little known but important document that should be read (especially the Allied order of battle at the end of the campaign):

Report by the Supreme Commander to the Combined Chiefs of Staff on the Operations in Europe of the Allied Expeditionary Force 6 June 1944 to 8 May, by Dwight D. Eisenhower

A letter in the Toronto Star:

A day to remember and to be thankful

Anniversary of VE Day

To our children, grandchildren family and veterans:

Sixty-two years ago today, one of the world's largest and deadliest armed conflagrations, known as World War II, came to an end in Europe when Germany surrendered, and peace descended on that part of the world. The people living in these battered theatres of war were able to come out of their shelters and walk safely on the streets, knowing that the machinery of war would not harm them and that they would have the opportunity to pick up their peacetime lives once more.

The soldiers in the field celebrated by relaxing and thanking their lucky stars, and marvelled at the thought that they had been spared the fate of thousands who had given their lives defending the values and freedoms of others, as well as their own. It was these efforts and commitments by our men and women that won for us the luxury to live comfortably in peace and safety. And it's why we should acknowledge and celebrate and remember May 8, 1945, as a very important part of our history.

We should demonstrate with total honest passion our thanks and appreciation for a difficult job well done – one that we will never be able to compensate them for.

To each and every veteran, we as a nation extend our thanks and gratitude. All veterans hope that our children and grandchildren will never see another time like it.

Lest we forget.

Trooper Ross Rennie, Governor General's Horse Guard (Ret'd.), Toronto