2020 #FRIDAYMAY8TH #VEDAY

I wrote this after watching the 2 minutes silence, where Prince Charles laid a wreath and they showed some black and white photographs to compliment the ceremony.
 
2020 VE DAY FRIDAY MAY 8TH
​
Stark black and white photographs of:
Ballistic bomb raids
Homes obliterated
Lives shattered
In this time of terrible war.
 
Stark black and white photographs of:
Resolved people, resigned yet resolute
As they once more pick themselves up
To repair and restore the damage.
To try and salvage what they could
Of their wrecked lives.
 
Stark black and white photographs of:
Those left behind.
Those brave women who took up the reins
Who worked to keep the home front alive,
In factories and on the land.
Of the home guard, fire wardens
Patrolling dark streets
Responding to the clarion call of the klaxon
which signalled danger!
 
Stark black and white photographs of:
 Overcrowding; an overnight stay
In an air raid shelter in the tunnels
 of the London underground.
A calm and peaceful response
When panic could have been deadly
 
Stark black and white photographs of:
Youthful soldiers
Boarding ships to take them across the sea.
Wearing insufficient PPE
With camouflaged leaves tied
to their tin can helmets.
 
Stark black and white photographs of:
World weary soldiers
Trudging along foreign roads.
Unknown yet joined
In camaraderie and teamworking.
Unbreakable bonds
To get the job done.
 
Stark black and white photographs of:
Grainy grey battleships pounding the waves,
Releasing their crew to fight.
To face uncertainty and death
As they hurry and scurry across landing beaches.
 
Stark black and white photographs of:
 Wounded soldiers, carried tenderly,
 Shell shocked from the horrors
Which they have suffered.
Disabled casualties, lost limbs
With dark hollowed eyes ad faces
Filled with hurt and longing.
 
Stark black and white photographs
Of majestic airplanes
The last bastion of our defence
Soaring high in the cloudless sky.
 Predators seeking their prey
Some sadly never to return.
 
Stark black and white photographs of:
 Rejoicing, and sheer happiness
As the cold ugly war had ceased.
Huge, delighted crowds assemble
Relief and celebration,
Singing, dancing, and laughing
Once more united
In joy and salutation
From a nation wracked by
loss, pain, and sacrifice!
 
These images will stay with me for a long time.
 
Sue Westcott (C.) 2020

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