The 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, or VE-Day, was marked across Europe and North America today in unusual ceremonies, as the coronavirus pandemic forced cancellation of long-planned events.
With physical distancing the order of the day, only small handfuls of veterans, dignitaries and politicians — wearing face masks — gathered at monuments and military cemeteries.
May 8, 1945, is an unforgettable day — an important milestone in world history, marking the German surrender of its armed forces in Europe during the Second World War.
Although according to Rory Cory, senior curator at The Military Museums, this day 75 years ago did not quite signal the official end of all battles as war continued in Japan — a country that would later surrender on Aug. 15 and officially sign a surrender document on Sept. 2.
“Canada was actually involved in the fighting in the Pacific as well,” explained Cory.
“When the war wound down in Europe, anyone that volunteered for Pacific service had to go back and visit their family in Canada for a quick period … and then went onto further Pacific service,” he said. “We were definitely committed to finishing the war in Japan.”
These aforementioned days are all significant — a reminder of global and Canadian history — and are being commemorated with a new exhibit that will run until the fall at Calgary’s Military Museums.
The exhibit, entitled “They Never Talked About It: Untold Stories WWII,” will be shown in the Founders’ Gallery and features 40 personalized stories from Second World War veterans.
“For so long, many of these guys just kept these memories bottled up,” said Cory. “PTSD — post-traumatic stress disorder — wasn’t recognized until more recently, up until the past decade.
“A lot of those guys had gone through pretty severe experiences. They didn’t feel comfortable talking about them, particularly the more difficult experiences that they went through.”
Cory said the average age of surviving Second World War veterans is 96 and many of them are sharing their memories for the first time.
“More recently, as people have been aging and realizing their stories will be lost if they don’t tell them to people, they have been starting to open up,” he said. “One of our veterans who actually drove landing craft on D-Day, he went through some pretty tough times on that day and saw some pretty horrible things. He didn’t really feel comfortable opening up about them to the media or anyone else. Just last year, he started opening up because it was the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Those experiences are being captured now.”
Along with first-hand accounts and oral histories, there will be artifacts, artwork and historical accounts that have been compiled by seven museums at The Military Museums complex.
The hope was to launch the exhibit with a special memorial service on Friday — to mark the 75th Anniversary of VE-Day — but with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Cory said the museum was forced to change plans.
They are aiming to reopen The Military Museums on May 19, with safety measures and physical distancing precautions in place.
Meanwhile, Cory said the museum would like to officially celebrate the Second World War exhibit in August in conjunction with VJ-Day — Victory over Japan Day or Victory in the Pacific Day.
He hopes to recognize local veterans publicly, giving them some acclaim and gratitude for their service as they offer living memories for future generations.
“It’s pretty incredible that these guys are still with us,” he said. “I’m glad they’re starting to open up (about their experiences) and we will be able to record them.”
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