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They brought their memories of loved ones who served in war, and their youthful hopes for the future to Belfast Cathedral on Sunday May 4 to commemorate 80 years since Victory in Europe (VE) Day.

Invited guests at this civic service included organisations who were involved both on the Home Front and at the Front in the war in Europe, and members of various youth organisations.

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly were present, along with Dame Maria Eagle, Minister of State in the Department of Defence, and the Deputy Lord Mayor and the High Sheriff of the City of Belfast.

The preacher was the President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, Dr John Alderdice. Other Church representatives included the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Dr Richard Murray; Father Colin Grant, representing the Bishop of Down and Connor; the Rt Rev Alister Bell, Moderator of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

The service was organised by the Cathedral in partnership with HM Lord Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast, Dame Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle, DBE DStJ DDL, and Northern Ireland War Memorial.

In a message, the Lord Lieutenant wrote: “The unrestrained joy that brought tens of thousands of people onto Belfast’s streets and across Northern Ireland on the 8th of May 1945 was at least, in part, a release of the fear and grief that had characterised the years since the outbreak of war in 1939. No one was unaffected, and freedom, independence and the preservation of democracy has been achieved at a hugely high cost.”

The Lord Lieutenant continued: “At this challenging time for Europe and the world, it is entirely right that we remember with proud sorrow the sacrifice of all who endured the vicissitudes of the Second World War, but imperative also that we reflect on our common purpose as a nation, as individuals and within our own communities. Each of us has a role to play.”

A ROLE TO PLAY

In his opening words, the Dean of Belfast, the Very Rev Stephen Forde, bid a special welcome to those who represented those members of the armed forces who fought to win the Second World War in 1945, and also those whose contribution to the war effort on the home front was essential to ensure Victory in Europe 80 years ago.

“Today, some of you present carry your own personal memories of those years of war, whether you fought on land, air or sea. More of you may carry the memory of a childhood lived during the war years of blackout, and rationing,” the Dean said.

“Perhaps you hold a vivid childhood memory of the Belfast Blitz of 1941, or being a child evacuated to family, or to strangers, in rural Ulster. Others of you here today do not have a personal memory of the war years, but you wear with pride the medals of those who fought on behalf of your generation, and you hold their stories from those years of wartime endurance.”

To the representatives of the youth organisations, the Dean said: “Your youth, whether as members of the Cadet Forces, or the Boys’ Brigade, the St John Ambulance, or the Scout Association, represents the youth of that previous generation whose commitment to service and sacrifice ensured 80 years of peace for us all in the continent of Europe.”

Dean Forde said that while the day was an opportunity to look back with ‘a deep sense of gratitude and thanksgiving,’ those presented had another ‘sacred duty,’ represented by candles and prayer for peace.

PEACE

“For our task today is to strive against all forces that would seek to plunge this continent and our world backwards towards war and destruction, hatred and armed conflict. Instead, our duty before God is to strive courageously to maintain and strengthen that peace for our day and for our generation which was won at such a cost, 80 years ago.”

Before the service began and as guests were taking their seats, the Band of the Royal Irish Regiment played music from the 1940s. At the commencement of the service, the Standards of the King’s Colours and the Royal British Legion (Northern Ireland District) were paraded and presented to the Dean. When these were withdrawn at the end of the service, the Band played the Dam Busters’ March.

The congregational hymns were Praise My Soul The King of Heaven; Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer; Now Thanks We All Our God; and O Jesus I Have Promised.

Music from the Cathedral Choir included Psalms 47 and 150 – words as sung by the Cathedral Choir at the 1945 VE Day Service of Thanksgiving. The choir was conducted by the Organist and Master of Music, Jack Wilson.

The First Lesson, Isaiah 25:1-9, was read by Fr Colin Grant, and the Second Lesson, Romans 8:31-39 by the Rt Rev Dr Richard Murray.

CANDLES

Candles of peace and items illustrating life during the war period were presented by representatives of youth organisations and the Forces Cadets. They included a stirrup pump, first aid dressings, a Defence Medal, and ARP helmet, a child’s toy, a gas rattle and a ration book.

The Candles of Peace were lit by David Thomspon of Christian Aid, marking 80 years since the churches of Britain and Ireland combined to support the refugees of Europe in the aftermath of World War Two.

Another poignant part of the service was the sharing of ‘Voices from the Second World War,’ the memories shared as part of the Northern Ireland War Memorial Museum’s oral history project and introduced by Michael Burns from the Museum.

Some of those present for the service shared their reasons for coming along

Peter Johnston, Chair of St John Ambulance, had a part to play in the service, reading a prayer for peace in today’s places of war. Peter is also a former member of the Ulster Defence Regiment and Royal Irish Regiment and retired at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

“This service is to be commended because we can never forget, even going back to World War One,” he said. “It is important that younger people take an interest in the stories of the past.”

Isobel McKane, President of GB Northern Ireland, was at the service with a group of GB members from Knocknamuckley Parish, Portadown. Some were involved in presenting the WW2 items and candles to the Dean.

“VE Day is very important and it’s lovely that as a uniformed organisation, we have been invited to acknowledge and remember the sacrifice of so many, and to mark the end of five years of tyranny,” Isobel said.

Julie White has been a Cadet for 30 years. “I was one of the first female Cadets in the Northern Ireland Sea Cadets and the first female Commanding Officer of Bangor Sea Cadets who celebrate their 60th anniversary this year,” Julie said.

“An occasion like today touches the riches of history and teaches the younger generation to value our history.”

Catherine Champion was wearing the medals of her late father, Colonel Robin Charley. She took the opportunity to visit a chair dedicated in his memory in the Cathedral’s Military Chapel.

“My father was in Belfast on VE Day. He had a friend who drove his motorbike round and round the City Hall while my Dad, who would have been 21 at the time, played the trumpet on the back of the bike!” Catherine said.

After enlisting in the Royal Ulster Rifles in 1943, Colonel Charley served in Europe and later in Palestine, Egypt and Hong Kong. During the Korean War, he took part in the so-called Battle of Happy Valley, where 150 RUR soldiers were killed or taken prisoner.

Back in Northern Ireland, Colonel Charley was the commanding officer of the Queen’s University Officers Training Corps in the mid-Sixties, and he was also Colonel of the Army Cadet Corps. In the early 1990s he became a trustee and honorary treasurer of the newly constituted Somme Association. Both his father and an uncle had served at the Somme.

In 2011 Colonel Charley returned to Korea with 268 Commonwealth veterans of the 1950-53 conflict. He died in 2019 at the age of 95.

Kathleen Thompson came to the service bringing with her a small Bible that had been presented to her father Fred McCallum at the end of World War One. Fred later went on to serve in the Merchant Navy and died when the HMS Rothermere was torpedoed during the Battle of the Atlantic in 1941. He was aged 32 and Kathleen was just a baby.

“It is very important for me to be here,” she said. “My father’s sacrifice is commemorated in Edinburgh Castle and Tower Hill Memorial.”

Margaret Scott wore with pride the medals of her late father James Wright. “He always wanted to be an Irish Guard as his grandfather had been, but he was not tall enough,” Margaret said.

“He was a motor engineer and joined the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers when they were founded in 1942. He fought in Italy, Sicily and in North Africa, where his job was to fix tanks. He was demobbed in 1945/6 and lived until he was 84.

“I feel very privileged to be at today’s service.”

Stephen White OBE is Chair of the Royal Ulster Constabulary George Cross Foundation. He was wearing his own medals on one lapel, and the medals of his father William White on the other. William was with the Fleet Air Arm, serving primarily in the Indian Ocean and also in Europe.

“This is the first time in my life I have ever worn my dad’s medals,” Stephen commented.

Joining him on the Cathedral steps following the service was Colonel Adrian Donaldson DL. “If you don’t remember the past, what’s the future going to be like,” he said. “You have to honour the veterans who gave their lives so we can live in peace today.”

One of those present at the service with personal memories of VE Day 1945 was the Rev John Pickering, who was four years old and living in Omagh on that historic day. “I remember being in the middle of the town and seeing a parade of soldiers passing. I was standing by the YMCA. Even at the age of four, I knew it was the end of the war. It was great to be here at the service today to rejoice in it.”

The VE Day Service will be broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster on Sunday May 11 at 9.30am.

Original article and more photographs available at Commemorating VE Day 80 years on at Belfast Cathedral | The Church of Ireland Diocese of Connor