{"id":33668,"date":"2025-04-29T20:40:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T19:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abingdonblog.co.uk\/?p=33668"},"modified":"2025-04-29T20:40:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T19:40:42","slug":"abingdon-to-mark-80th-anniversary-of-ve-day-in-may-and-vj-day-in-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/?p=33668","title":{"rendered":"Abingdon to Mark 80th Anniversary of VE Day in May and VJ Day in August"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/imag25\/25042904.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nThe war left its mark on the town.<\/p>\n<p>The Abingdon War Memorial records the names of 56 local men who lost their lives in World War II while serving in the Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force. A further 47 are remembered at Abingdon School.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s commemorations \u2014 organised by the Abingdon Royal British Legion with support from the Town Council \u2014 honour their sacrifice and the service of many others.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/imag25\/25042903.jpg\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>Thursday 8 May<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>09:00<\/strong> \u2013 Town crier\u2019s proclamation from the County Hall roof<\/p>\n<p><strong>12:00<\/strong> \u2013 Wreaths and blue flowers \u2014 symbols of peace and appreciation \u2014 will be laid at the war memorial<\/p>\n<p><strong>18:30<\/strong> \u2013 Church bells will ring out across Abingdon to mark 80 years since Victory in Europe (VE) Day \u2014 the end of World War II in Europe<\/p>\n<p><strong>19:30<\/strong> \u2013 Concert at St Helen&#8217;s Church, featuring Abingdon Town Band and members of Abingdon Drama Club<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/imag25\/25042901.jpg\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>Saturday 10 May<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>10:00\u201317:00<\/strong> \u2013 Operation Overlord model railway display, Abingdon Royal British Legion, Spring Road<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sunday 11 May<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>10:00\u201315:00<\/strong> \u2013 MG Rally, Abingdon Market Place<\/p>\n<p><strong>10:00\u201316:00<\/strong> \u2013 Operation Overlord model railway display, Abingdon RBL<\/p>\n<p><strong>12:00\u201314:00<\/strong> \u2013 Barbecue, Abingdon RBL<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sunday 18 May<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>14:00\u201316:30<\/strong> \u2013 VE Commemorative Tea Dance, Preston Road Community Centre<br \/>\n(Live music by &#8216;Sugar and Spice&#8217;; refreshments provided.)<\/p>\n<p>Though VE Day marked the end of war in Europe, conflict continued in the Pacific. Further commemorations will mark Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) in August.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Saturday 16 August<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>10:30<\/strong> \u2013 Music in the Market Place<\/p>\n<p><strong>14:00<\/strong> \u2013 Fun bun throwing contest (not from the County Hall this time \u2014 the aim is distance!), Abingdon Rugby Club, Lambrick Way<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sunday 17 August<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>14:00\u201316:30<\/strong> \u2013 VJ Commemorative Tea Dance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The war left its mark on the town. The Abingdon War Memorial records the names of 56 local men who lost their lives in World War II while serving in the Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force. A further 47 are remembered at Abingdon School. This year\u2019s commemorations \u2014 organised by the Abingdon Royal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}