Region falls silent to remember VE Day anniversary

The Midlands marked the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe today, remembering those who fought and died in World War Two.

The region paused for two minutes silence at 11:00 am and in Leicester, Pipe Major Steve Bozon of the Seaforth Highlanders Pipes & Drums played VE 75 - a piece specially commissioned to commemorate the anniversary at the Arch of Remembrance in Leicester's Victoria Park.

Meanwhile, emergency workers and people passing the Hall of Memory in Birmingham paused to reflect, or just stood outside their homes, like in Rubery in Bromsgrove.

Overhead, the Lincolnshire based Red Arrows took part in the commemorations in London. They soured over the capital to honour those who had fallen.

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• VE Day 75: A wartime child evacuee recalls writing home after he was sent away

At 9pm, the Queen will address the nation in a televised message – the exact moment her father, King George VI, gave a speech over the radio three-quarters of a century earlier.

It will be the monarch's second televised address in only a few weeks, after her message of hope last month about the Covid-19 pandemic, in which she told Brits we will overcome the virus and “we will meet again.”