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AIR-RAID sirens sounded as part of today’s VE Day 75th anniversary celebrations “terrified” old people who remember vividly the real thing, the pacifist Peace Pledge Union (PPU) said.
Sirens were sounded in some communities as part of nationwide events marking the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender to Allied forces after six years of tyranny and war, which saw millions slaughtered through genocide, starvation and battle.
In the Soviet Union, there were at least 23 million dead including huge numbers of civilians.
Six million Jewish people and hundreds of thousands of communists, pacifists, gays, Roma and others were systematically murdered by the Nazis in death camps.
In Britain, tens of thousands of civilians died in the “blitz” bombing campaign, including in London, Coventry and Liverpool, during which air-raid sirens were sounded to warn the public that more airborne terror was on its way.
The PPU said today: “People with memories of World War II have been expressing fear over plans to sound air-raid sirens at events to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
“Since news of the plan broke on social media, the PPU has received a string of concerned messages, including from people who are themselves old enough to remember World War II and who detest or fear the sound of air-raid sirens.”
Among them was Val, an 80-year-old from Penwortham, near Preston in Lancashire, who remembered the sirens from her childhood and was scared of the reawakening of traumatic memories.
Val’s daughter Erika said: “Do these people have any idea what that sound does to people like my mum? It’s no celebration sound!”
The sirens were sounded today during a two-minute silence at 11am in memory of the dead of the second world war.
Other events encouraged by the government included socially distanced street parties outside people’s homes.
Meanwhile, BAE Systems claimed that it was celebrating freedom on VE Day 75 as it continued to arm oppressive regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
The firm made a point of announcing that its predecessor companies supplied British armed forces during World War II, but overlooked how one of its predecessors — Vickers — gave arms to Italian fascist Benito Mussolini during the 1930s.
