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Name:
Age:
VE Day 75
th Anniversary
Friday 8th May 2020
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Developing Responsibility; Caring about Achievement
Dear Latimer pupils,
VE day stands for Victory in Europe day and it is on the 8th
May. We celebrate VE day because on the 8th May 1945
Nazi Germany surrendered and fighting in Europe ended.
This was the end of World War 2 in Europe. The war had
lasted for almost 6 years and millions of people had lost
their lives. VE day became a national public holiday and
every year on the 8th May people all across the UK
celebrate, hang bunting and have street parties to
remember the end of fighting in Europe. This year it will be
75 years since the end of the war. In 1945, people were so
happy that the war was over and that the soldiers could
come home but it was also very important to remember all
of those people that had died during World War 2. Their
sacrifice helped to end and win the war.
We hope you enjoy the activities in this booklet and have
fun celebrating VE day with your family.
Kind regards,
Your teachers
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Contents TV Timetable…………………………….
Online Learning Resources…………..
Then vs Now…………………………….
Winston Churchill’s Speech………….
WW2 Toys and Games………………...
WW2 recipes ……………………………
Bread pudding……………………….
Eggless Chocolate cake…………...
Carrot cookies……………………….
WW2 Clothing…………………………...
Dressing up ideas…………………..
Design your own outfit……………...
WW2 songs……………………………...
Sing a long ‘We’ll meet again’...…...
Activity Sheets………………………….
Write a diary entry…………………..
Wordsearch………………………….
Colouring …………………………….
Bunting……………………………….
page 4
page 5
page 6
page 7
page 8
page 9
page 9
page 10
page 11
page 12
page 13
page 14
page 15
page 16
page 17
page 17
page 18
page 19
page 25
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TV Timetable 11am: VE Day: The Nation Remembers, BBC One
The BBC will have a 2 minute silence in remembrance of all those that
died during World War 2.
2:45pm: VE Day 75: The Announcement of Victory, BBC One
This is a chance to hear Winston Churchill’s victory speech once
again, when he addressed the British people and announced that war
was over in Europe.
3:45pm: Scotland’s VE Day, BBC Two
This programme tells the story of Scottish veterans, who discuss the
final days of conflict and their incredible stories during the war.
7pm: The One Show, BBC One
A special episode that will pay tribute to the heroes of World War 2.
8pm: VE Day 75: The People’s Celebration,
BBC One
Celebrate the happy events of 1945 with
popular songs from that era.
9pm: The Queen’s speech, BBC One
The Queen’s speech will be played at 9pm. If you are already in bed
then you can always watch it on Saturday on the BBC iPlayer.
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Online Learning Resources
KS1:
KS2:
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t2-h-4788-ve-day-powerpoint
Look through this PowerPoint for information about why we celebrate VE day.
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t-l-53195-ks1-ve-day-differentiated-reading-
comprehension-activity
Have a go at this reading comprehension with an adult.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/history-ks2-ve-day/z7xtmfr
Watch this video explaining VE day.
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t2-h-5399-ks2-ve-day-information-powerpoint
Look through this PowerPoint for more information.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48201749
Learn how VE day was celebrated in 1945.
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t2-h-5396-ks2-ve-day-differentiated-reading-
comprehension-activity
Have a go at this reading comprehension. Read the whole text before trying to answer the ques-
tions.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/21/a1967321.shtml
Read this real diary entry from a child on May 8th 1945 and learn how they spent VE day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFaMjmBt2JU
Watch video footage of VE day in 1945.
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Then vs Now In 1945, Winston Churchill, the prime minister during World War 2, announced over the
radio that Germany had surrendered and that war was over in Europe. The people of Britain
rejoiced and immediately began to celebrate. They danced in the streets. Lots of people
gathered outside Buckingham Palace and waited to see the King, Queen, Princess
Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) and Princess Margaret. Winston Churchill was also at
Buckingham Palace and he waved at the people from the balcony. Some people had street
parties and lit bonfires. Others dressed in red, white and blue (colours of the Union Jack)
and hung red, white and blue bunting all the way down the streets. It was a happy time as it
meant an end to fighting in Europe. It was also a sad time because many families had lost
loved ones or their houses had been destroyed. People still celebrate VE day today
because it is important to remember all of those people that died fighting for our country.
What similarities and differences
are there between how people
celebrated VE day in 1945 and
how you are celebrating today in
2020?
What is the same?
What is different?
Fill in the boxes below.
Same Different
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Winston Churchill’s speech
Watch part of the famous Winston Churchill speech where he announced the
surrender of Germany and the end of the second world war over the radio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efvwJjzqKUk
Have a go at reading it out slowly, clearly and confidently like he does.
Stand up, hold your head up high and speak loudly. Do you feel powerful?
Yesterday morning at 2:41 a.m. at General
Eisenhower’s Headquarters, General Jodl, the
representative of the German High Command and
Grand Admiral Doenitz, the designated head of the
German State, signed the act of unconditional
surrender of all German land, sea, and air forces in
Europe to the Allied Expeditionary Force, and
simultaneously to the Soviet High Command.
Hostilities will end officially at 1 minute after midnight
tonight, Tuesday the 8th of May. We may allow
ourselves a brief period of rejoicing. Today is Victory
in Europe day. Long live the cause of freedom. God
save the King.
If there are words you do not know then ask an adult for help or
watch the video and follow along as Winston Churchill reads it out.
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World War 2 Toys and Games
Have a go at playing some of the games that children would have played
Hopscotch:
1. Grab some chalk and draw this hopscotch pattern on the
floor outside.
2. Throw a rock into the first square (make sure it lands inside
the square and not on the lines).
3. Then hop through the hopscotch course but make sure you
skip the square you threw the rock into.
4. If there is 1 square you must hop with 1 foot. If there are 2
squares you must jump with both feet (1 foot in each
square).
5. Repeat these steps again but this time throw the rock into
the second square. Remember to miss this square out when
you hop.
6. Repeat until you have thrown the rock into all of the squares.
7. If you touch the lines, lose your balance or miss a square,
you lose and must start again.
Toys:
Children also played with skipping ropes, marbles, conkers, dolls, cricket bats, toy cars,
trucks and planes.
Hide and seek:
This game was very popular with children during the war and can be played inside or out-
side. Choose a seeker and everyone else needs to hide whilst the seeker counts to 100.
Make sure you are not the first to be found.
Board games:
Play a board game with your family. Families in the 1940’s played board games such as,
Monopoly, Scrabble and Sorry.
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World War 2 recipes
Try one of these wartime recipes. Remember food was rationed during the
war so that there was enough food for everyone. Sometimes people had to
go without eggs, milk, butter and sugar. Get an adult to help you.
Bread pudding:
Method
1. Put the bread into a bowl with a little bit of
water and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Squeeze the bread until it is fairly dry.
3. After, add the bread and all the ingredients (not
the spice) into the empty bowl. Add a little bit of
milk to give the bread a sticky consistency.
4. Gradually, add cinnamon until you get a taste
that you like.
5. Place all the mixture into a greased pan (like a
lasagne pan).
6. Cook at 160C/ gas mark 3 for an hour until you
see that the edges have become brown and
the centre is hot.
7. 10 minutes before the end of cooking, sprinkle
some extra sugar on top.
8. Allow it to cool. Finally, serve and enjoy.
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Eggless Chocolate Cake:
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C (Fan)/Gas 4.
2. Rub the margarine or fat into the flour, salt and baking powder.
3. Then add the cocoa powder, sugar, milk and water and mix it
altogether.
4. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the vinegar and then add it to the
cake mixture. Then add the vanilla essence.
5. Mix everything together and pour the mixture into a greased cake tin.
6. Put in the oven and bake for an hour or until a skewer in the middle
comes out clean.
7. Serve and enjoy!
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Carrot Cookies
Ingredients
2 tbsp Margarine
4 tbsp Sugar
A few drops of vanilla or
almond essence
8 tbsp Grated raw carrot
12 tbsp Self Raising Flour
or Plain Flour with 1 tsp
Baking Powder
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190C/ gas mark
5.
2. Cream the margarine and sugar to-
gether until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the flavouring and carrot and
fold in the flour.
4. Drop a spoonful of the mixture onto a
greased baking tray and sprinkle the
top with a little sugar.
5. Repeat until you have used all of the
mixture. Make sure you leave space
Lemonade
Ingredients
3 lemons
2 oz/ 55g granulated sugar
2 pints/ 1.2 litres water
Method
1. Peel the rind from the lemons and cut them into 1 cm slices.
2. Place the lemon rinds in a bowl and sprinkle the sugar over them.
Let them stand for 1 hour.
3. Boil the water and then pour over the sugared lemon rinds. Allow the
mixture to cool and then strain.
4. Squeeze the lemons into another bowl. Pour the juice through a
sieve into the sugar mixture. Stir well, pour into a jug and pop it into
the fridge. Serve with ice.
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World War 2 clothing
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Dressing up ideas
On VE day you could dress up in 1940s clothing or dress up as a soldier or evacuee. You
could even just dress head-to-toe in red, white and blue clothing (the colours of the Union
Jack) just like many people did in 1945. Here are some ideas to help you put together
your outfit:
Evacuee:
Wool cap
Shorts or a skirt/dress
Grey tights or long socks
Black boots or shoes
White collar shirt
Gas mask box made of small
Cardboard box and some string
Small suitcase or bag
1945 clothing:
Women wore trousers or dungarees so that
they could easily work to help the war effort.
They also wore dresses and skirts when at
home.
Men were mostly seen in their uniforms. If
they were not soldiers or away fighting most
men wore suits with a tie and a hat. For a
more casual look, men wore knitted jumpers
or a sweater vest.
Look at the pictures and see if you have
anything similar in your wardrobes.
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Design your own VE day outfit
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World War 2 songs
Listen to songs that were popular during the 1940s. Use this link to
find lots of songs from wartime:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/history-ks2-world-war-2-clips-ww2-songs-
index/zbg9gwx
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/history-ks2-world-war-2-clips-ww2-songs-index/zbg9gwx
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Sing-a-long Follow this link to listen to the full version to the Vera Lynn song ‘We’ll meet
again’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsM_VmN6ytk
Or type ‘Vera Lynn We’ll meet again’ into YouTube. Use the words below to
sing along. Can you learn a verse so that you do not need the words?
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some
sunny day
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do
'Till the blue skies drive the dark
clouds far away
So will you please say hello
To the folks that I know
Tell them I won't be long
They'll be happy to know
That as you saw me go
I was singing this song
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some
sunny day
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some
sunny day
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do
'Til the blue skies
Drive the dark clouds far away
So will you please say hello
To the folks that I know
Tell them it won't be long
They'll be happy to know
That as you saw me go
I was singin' this song
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some
sunny day.
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Write a diary entry. Imagine you were a child in 1945 celebrating VE
day.
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Wordsearch
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Bunting Lots of people hung red, white and
blue bunting up on VE day to
decorate their houses and streets.
They used red, white and blue
because that is the colours on the
Union Jack.
Have a go at making some simple fabric bunting or print off the
design of your choice (page 25 or 26) and make paper bunting
with string.
Fabric (no sew) bunting
What you will need:
Material (red, white and blue)
Scissors
Glue or fusible webbing
2m String (or longer)
Iron
Method:
1. Cut lots of triangles out of the fabric. Make sure they are all the same
size.
2. Cut off the two top corners of the triangle (the dotted lines).
3. Place a piece of string along the grey line.
4. Put glue along the top of the fabric or you could you fusible webbing
(this becomes sticky when ironed).
5. Fold over the top part of the triangle so that it is folded over the string
and press down. If you used webbing you need to now iron down the
flap.
6. Repeat this process all the way along you piece of string.
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