Victory in Europe day
Barry Hamblin SpeakerNet Sponsor
- Region:
- South West
- Notice Period:
- Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
- Type:
- Antiquarian
- Fee:
- Paid: £60 plus travel expenses (30p/mile)
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 25th August 2025
Victory in Europe Day – the day the Nazi military surrendered to the allies: the British Empire, The United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Free French Army. It happened on the 8th May 1945. We had pushed the Nazis out of North Africa and what remained of the Nazi Afrika Korps surrendered in Tunisia on 13th May 1943. The allies landed in Sicily on 10th July 1943 and slowly pushed North through Italy. The D-Day landings in Normandy started on 6th June 1944 and eleven months later the Germans surrendered. VE-Day was declared a public holiday to celebrate the end of the second world war and, oh boy, was it celebrated.
Views: 85 | Enquiries: 0About Barry Hamblin
After 25 years flying in the RAF as a navigator I found myself running a training company for airline pilots after doing a favour for a friend.
My wife has a lavender business (I am the tractor driver) and when she opened a shop which was too large for her sole use I closed my training company and took the spare half of the shop to indulge my passion for selling antiques. My wife and I give talks on the history of lavender, growing lavender and how it is used (see Lavender and Co) and this, together with being a trustee of our small but beautiful local museum and a love of antiques and history, has resulted in me giving number of talks on a variety of historical subjects.
The RAF trained me to instruct and I just love presenting the subjects I care so much about.
Other Talks on SpeakerNet by Barry Hamblin
- Time Gentlemen Please - a history of the measurement of time.
- Remember Remember - the story of the gunpowder plot
- In Search of Terra Incognita - the life of Captain James Cook
- What they do not tell you about climate change
- Lavender, the Forgotten Herb
- Operation Black Buck - the Vulcan bomber raids in the Falklands
- Bristol Airports: Past, Present and Future
- D-Day Landings: Operation Neptune.
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