Victory, 1945
Updated: 2 days ago
In this month of May the English were euphoric, and unable to hide their joy. The British army had won the war, and the Royal Air Force had vanquished the Nazi enemy. Winston Churchill had led his people through the bloody war that had torn all of Europe apart, and the people of Britain had emerged victorious. Six years previously, Adolf Hitler had plunged the world into war, and the Nazi empire had spread across the Old Continent. The Germans had occupied most of its countries. Adolf Hitler’s ambitions extended to the vital space to the east – Russia – and the island nation so prized by the Third Reich: England. For five years Londoners had endured the bombs of the Blitz, then the V1 flying bombs and V2 rockets fired from the European mainland. London had been destroyed, its people massacred. The English had suffered, and their women had endured. Every day they had listened to the blare of sirens in London, every day fire bells rang, and every day they heard rockets pounding down upon their island. Yet they had no intention of abandoning their sacred isle to the Germans, not while the king’s Royal Air Force had anything to say about it! England’s women joined in the fight, supporting their men on the battlefield by working in the armaments factories and on farms, as nurses or as switchboard operators. England’s women had won the war. At Piccadilly Circus, the pensioners were overcome with joy. They emerged into the streets, waving flags high against the clear May skies. “Churchill, our hero! The English lion!” cried one old man. “Long live the Commonwealth!” cried a woman. The sun never set on the British Empire. When night fell upon the United States, the dawn rose on British India. All the English colonies, past and present, had come together to help the British defeat Hitler and his diabolical armies.
“Churchill is going to give an address!” cried one woman. The English were in fine fettle as they celebrated the end of the war and the capitulation of Nazi Germany. It felt now as if victory had always been assured, though none had dared to think so boldly during the darkest days of the war. It had taken a collective effort to achieve this great victory. The Americans and the English had landed on the Normandy coast, forcing Hitler to fight on two fronts. At Piccadilly Circus, a voice came over the radio. It was Winston Churchill, victorious, addressing his fellow citizens. “We have won the war! The enemy has been crushed!” they heard over the waves. The English linked arms with one another and took out their First World War medals. They held hands and sang victory hymns. “Long live Great Britain! Long live the Commonwealth!” they cried. The Americans had done so much to help the English. The armaments factories had run at full tilt, building B-17 bombers at a breakneck pace. Farmers had sent all manner of provisions to help the English defeat Hitler. Now they came together in the streets of London, happy and in song. Once again, as in the First World War, America had fought alongside Great Britain. A handful of American flags fluttered among the crowd.
Alan Alfredo Geday