The triumph of the British Empire and the USA is obliterated by the EU’s self-congratulation day tomorrow
EU hijacks UK’s Victory in Europe Day over Nazi Germany in WWII
As the EU’s numerous institutions prepare to celebrate ‘Europe Day’ tomorrow, take a look at how the EU annually ignores history and sacrifice and celebrates itself instead.
Today, as many people in the UK will be remembering the end of WWII 77 years ago, tomorrow readers should prepare themselves for what will be another deluge of pro-EU propaganda, with the EU Commission, EU Council, and other EU institutions proclaiming the usual plaudits for themselves.
There will be the talk of ‘unity’, ‘solidarity’ and of course the EU’s leading role in everything from Covid to Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine.
‘Victory in Europe Day in the UK has been branded ‘Europe Day’ by the EU Commission
At 11.01 on 08 May 1945, the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany went into effect, having been signed in Reims, France the previous day by General Jodl of the German High Command.
Accordingly, the United Kingdom has always recognised 08 May as ‘Victory in Europe Day. Across the EU, however, things are a little different.
Go to any EU website and you will read about ‘Europe Day’ which takes place tomorrow. Not a day of remembrance and celebration of victory marking the end of World War II in Europe, but more a celebration of the ‘glorious’ thing that is the European Union.
Try to find anything about ‘VE Day’ on the EU Commission’s websites and you will be disappointed.
Here is what the EU say about ‘Europe Day’:-
“Europe Day held on 9 May every year celebrates peace and unity in Europe.”
“Europe Day commemorates the signing of the ‘Schuman Declaration’ on 9 May 1950. An ambitious plan to secure long-term peace in post-war Europe is considered the beginning of what is now the European Union. The importance of working for peace in Europe is all the more evident, as we highlight our unity and solidarity with Ukraine.”
EU Commission website
The EU first introduced ‘Europe Day’ in 1985. Its aim was “to facilitate European integration by fostering a Pan-European identity among the populations of the EC member states”. The European Council adopted ‘Europe Day’ along with the ‘flag of Europe’ on 29 June 1985, in Milan.
At least the UK’s American allies are steadfast
The EU may wish to ignore VE Day in favour of a self-congratulatory exercise in manipulation and propaganda, but the UK’s American allies do not forget.
Here are excerpts from the statement yesterday from US Secretary of State, Antony J Blinken:-
“I join my fellow Americans and people across the world as we prepare to mark the 77th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. Together, we commemorate the shared resilience and resolve of all the soldiers and civilians that led to the Allied victory over the Nazis. We mourn the merciless slaughter of tens of millions in that war of conquest waged by a despot intent on subjugating his neighbors.”
“The people of the United States joined with brave citizens of many other countries who fought courageously on all fronts in Europe to turn back the brutal Nazi onslaught.”
“As war again rages in Europe, we must increase our resolve to resist those who now seek to manipulate historical memory in order to advance their own ambitions. The Allied victory over the Nazis should be honored as an accomplishment of collective heroism and sacrifice. President Putin tries to twist history to attempt to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine. Those who study the past know President Zelenskyy and the brave people of Ukraine embody the spirit of those who prevailed during the Second World War. They are valiantly defending their country, their democracy, and Ukraine’s rightful future in a Europe whole, free, and at peace.
“As we commemorate the end of World War II in Europe, we have a sacred duty to the fallen: to speak the truth about the past and to support all those in our own time who stand up for freedom. The Transatlantic community we have built with our Allies and partners has been and remains essential to our progress toward a more secure, more just, and more prosperous future.”
- US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken, 07 May 2022
Firstly, well said, Mr Secretary. At least our American friends recognise the importance of the anniversary today, even if the EU does not.
As the EU prepares to pat itself on the back tomorrow for its bureaucratic and political achievements, instead I prefer to celebrate a real victory — that over Nazi Germany 77 years ago today.
This is emphatically not ‘wallowing in past glories’, as arch-Rejoiners will no doubt call it. It is a celebration of what those before us achieved in the cause of freedom and democracy.
The defence of freedom has a cost
Many readers will have relatives who played their part in the defeat of Nazi Germany all those years ago. For my part, I shall be raising a toast today to my father who was a soldier from the 1st Hereford Regiment who landed on Sword Beach Normandy on 6 June 1944 and fought to get off the beach under a hail of machine bullets where he saw his mates die as the door of his landing craft came down. And had to climb over their bodies
In his own words many years later when teenagers myself and my brother finally got him to open up. He said
I was at the back of the craft and as we came in it was like church bells ringing, it was of course bullets hitting both sides and the front, I was glad that seawater was coming over the side of the craft as I was soaking wet, it hid where I had pissed myself with fear of what was about to happen.
Then we stopped and the door went down and men just went down, men who I had trained and eat with. My Sergeant who was behind me shouted OUT OUT NOW and as I moved he came past me and grabbed me and we both ran out climbing over dead and wounded bodies with other men behind us.
It seemed a miracle that the bullets stopped, it wasn't of course it was just luck that the Germans had run out and were reloading. By the time they opened up again we were on the beach, all around us men were dropping but a few of us managed to get off the beach and began to use our weapons. I got separated from my mates and as night came I found myself on the far outskirts of the town alone. I had no water and no food and it was fast becoming dark, so I dropped down into a ditch and got my head down.
I woke as daylight came and I jumped out of that ditch as a man possed. I had been laying next to a dead German decapitated.
My dad came home wounded just six months before the war ended. He had fought through France and into Germany. He had seen and done things that most of us will never see and do in our lifetime, he had lost good friends and had seen friends wounded, he killed and wounded his enemy.
A quiet man, a very loving gentle man who would shy away from arguments, I never heard him raise his voice to me, my brother or my mother. Who died in 1975. My children would have loved him but sadly they never met him.
Sources: EU Commission | US State Department ]
