VE prepared

---

Before you begin

• This activity is all about remembering VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) and the role that Scouts played. We’ve included plenty of suggestions, and it’s up to you which you include.
• VE Day was all about community, so why not use this chance to invite your local community to celebrate with you, and see what Scouts is about?

Wait, what’s VE Day?

VE Day marks the day towards the end of the second world war when fighting against Nazi Germany came to an end in Europe – 8 May 1945. The Prime Minister at the time, Winston Churchill, declared a national holiday that led to a day of partying and celebrating. This activity is all about celebrating like it’s 1945!

Decorate

The Union Flag was flown high as a sign of peace and victory in Europe. Across the UK, people used red, white, and blue decorations to celebrate – they’re the colours of the Union Flag, and were also the colours of the Allied countries in the second world war.

1. Everyone should get red, white, and blue paper (or fabric).
2. Everyone should cut triangles from their material. They should be isosceles triangles – they should have a fairly short base and two longer, equal, sloping sides.

It doesn’t matter if the triangles aren’t perfect or if the material’s a bit mismatched. In 1945, people rushed to create decorations as fast as they could, often without a lot of money or materials. Within a few hours, makeshift flags and bunting began to pop up across the UK.

3. Everyone should attach their triangles to a piece of string (or a strip of fabric). Depending on what they’re using, it might work best to use a glue stick, staples, or needle and thread.
4. Everyone should work together to hang the bunting. They should avoid heaters, vents, and lights!
5. Everyone should get creative with any leftover materials. They could make hats, badges, or table decorations, for example.

Sounds of victory

Music was a big part of VE day. Some people used gramophones, instruments, and barrel organs, others just sang their own songs.

1. Everyone should listen to some music from the time. Popular artists from the second world war include Ella Fitzgerald, The Andrews Sisters, Vera Lynn, and Benny Goodman.
2. Everyone should think about which of the songs they like best. Could they make a playlist?
3. People could think about how they might dance to the music. They could look at popular dances in the 1940s including the jive, jitterbug, and swing dancing for inspiration.

VE Day dining

On VE Day, communities up and down the country set up tables and chairs in the street and shared food to celebrate together. You could encourage everyone to bring a different dish, or you could cook up a range of things together. You could even look up VE Day recipes – because of rationing, there were many makeshift versions of familiar dishes, such as cakes that didn’t use eggs or sugar.

As always, be mindful of dietary requirements and allergies – you may need to avoid some allergens altogether, and everything should be clearly labelled.

1. Everyone should work together to set out tables and chairs in long rows. They should decorate them with red, white, and blue decorations. They could even use flowers!
2. Everyone should lay out the food and make sure everything’s clearly labelled.

Food and other everyday items were rationed during the war. For VE Day, certain items like ice cream were available as a special treat.

3. Everyone should enjoy their VE Day dining. How do they think it would’ve felt to enjoy food after such a long time of rationing?

Skilled Scouts

It’s up to you how you reflect on the role Scouts and Guides played in the second world war. You could gather around a fire (and perhaps make a treat like s’mores). Bonfires had been banned during the second world war, so on VE Day people lit fires to celebrate the end of the war in Europe.

1. Everyone should think about how the second world war affected Scouts and Guides. People might think about how it affected communities all over the UK – more than half of leaders were called up to fight in the war, and lots of Scouts and Guides were evacuated (many children living in big cities and towns temporarily moved to safer places, usually in the countryside).
2. The person leading the activity should explain some of the ways Scouts and Guides helped on the home front.

We’ve included some information below. You can find out more about what Scouts got up to in the second world war with this exhibition from the Heritage Service.

3. Everyone should think about the skills the Scouts and Guides used. Do Scouts and Guides have any of the same skills today? How could people use their skills to help out their local area right now?
4. Everyone could get a blanket badge to celebrate the anniversary of VE Day.

---

How did Scouts help in the second world war?

Scouts helped to collect waste paper (over one million tonnes were recycled over the war) as well as metal, rubber, and rags. They also played a really important role by welcoming displaced persons and refugees from Europe at train stations and in their towns and villages. The UK welcomed 10,000 children and more than 70,000 Jewish refugees over the course of the war.

Scouts helped as part of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) by issuing and fitting gas marks, building shelters, acting as Air Raid Wardens, firefighting, guiding people to public shelters, and saving people from some of the two million homes that were destroyed by bombing raids.