VE Day celebrations

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The end of the Second World War in Europe came on 8 May 1945, after more than five years of conflict.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that people could allow themselves "a brief period of rejoicing".

Crowds in their thousands gathered outside Whitehall and Buckingham Palace.

BBC correspondents, including Richard Dimbleby, capture the scenes of joy across the city - from the East End to Piccadilly Circus.

This programme was produced by Simon Watts using material from the BBC Archives recorded on VE Day in 1945.

It was first broadcast in 2020.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: VE Day in London. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to introduce myself. My name's Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport podcasts. I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with leading journalists, experienced pundits and the biggest sports stars. Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights straight from the player's mouths. But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is a unique
0:22.6	access to the sporting world. What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real
0:28.0	connection to dedicated sports fans across the UK. So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC
0:33.7	Sounds where you'll find plenty more.
0:43.8	Hello, this is the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:49.0	We're the podcast that takes you back to a key moment in history, and we bring it all to life through incredible archive and the amazing memories of key witnesses.
0:53.8	Episodes are just nine minutes long and come out every weekday.
0:57.7	If that sounds like your thing, make sure you subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts
1:02.3	and turn your push notifications on so you never miss a show.
1:07.1	It's 80 years since VE Day when Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allied forces ending World War II in Europe.
1:15.5	This special compilation of BBC Radio Archive tells the story of how London celebrated that war was over.
1:23.2	This is the BBC Home Service. Here is the news. The end of the war in Europe was officially announced by Mr. Churchill at 3 o'clock this afternoon
1:33.3	in a broadcast from 10 Downing Street.
1:36.3	Yesterday morning at 2.41 a.m. at General Eisenhower's headquarters, General Jodle, signed the act of unconditional surrender to the Allied Expeditionary Force.
1:56.5	We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing.
2:02.9	Vast crowds gathered in Whitehall and started shouting,
2:07.1	We want Churchill, we want Winnie.
2:10.7	And just before six, he walked out onto the balcony of the Ministry of Health Building.
2:17.0	At this moment, how wonderful Mr. Churchill has come out onto the Ministry of Health balcony.
2:26.3	He's wearing his boiler suit, the famous boiler suit that he's made so wonderful,
2:32.3	and he had the audacity, shall I say,
2:35.6	to put on his head his famous black hat. Nobody can say that it goes with a boiler suit,
	...

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