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Update from The House of Plague, Day 53 (VE Day)
I feel like I should mark the day somehow, but I am stuck on what to do. Although I stumbled across this lovely article, which is a cornucopia of thoughts and links:
VE Day: coronavirus lessons from 75 years ago
This week the Upside reflects on the community spirit felt in our current crisis and the one that ended in 1945
~
As the icon says, we are all stories... My family is Danish. My paternal grandfather went to Canada as a young man, and he and my grandmother (not married, only courting) lost touch. And if it hadn't been for the war, I might not have been here.
When the war started, my grandfather joined the Canadian army. He was sent to Italy, and slowly his regiment moved up through Europe, until they eventually reached Denmark. I am unsure how he managed to track down my grandmother (who hadn't married, although they were both in their 40s by then), but he did somehow. The story goes that they arranged to meet on a specific street, in the early morning. They saw each other from opposite ends of the street, ran into each others arms, and were married within the week. I believe my father was born within the year.
♥
(There is more to it of course, but this'll do for now.)
~~
ETA: My maternal grandfather was not in the army. He was a college lecturer, and since Germany invaded Denmark within 0.3 seconds of war being declared fighting wasn't really an option, should the army have drafted 40-something school teachers.
The Faroe Islands were occupied by the British, and very happy they were about it, trust me! The Faroese didn't fight, but - being fishermen - they kept fishing throughout the war, helping to supply Britain with food. Because of this they were a target of German warships, and proportionally the Faroes lost as many men as any of the fighting nations.
~~
Happy peace time y'all. May we move closer to a day when there are no wars at all.
ETA2 - this is beautiful:
VE Day: coronavirus lessons from 75 years ago
This week the Upside reflects on the community spirit felt in our current crisis and the one that ended in 1945
~
As the icon says, we are all stories... My family is Danish. My paternal grandfather went to Canada as a young man, and he and my grandmother (not married, only courting) lost touch. And if it hadn't been for the war, I might not have been here.
When the war started, my grandfather joined the Canadian army. He was sent to Italy, and slowly his regiment moved up through Europe, until they eventually reached Denmark. I am unsure how he managed to track down my grandmother (who hadn't married, although they were both in their 40s by then), but he did somehow. The story goes that they arranged to meet on a specific street, in the early morning. They saw each other from opposite ends of the street, ran into each others arms, and were married within the week. I believe my father was born within the year.
♥
(There is more to it of course, but this'll do for now.)
~~
ETA: My maternal grandfather was not in the army. He was a college lecturer, and since Germany invaded Denmark within 0.3 seconds of war being declared fighting wasn't really an option, should the army have drafted 40-something school teachers.
The Faroe Islands were occupied by the British, and very happy they were about it, trust me! The Faroese didn't fight, but - being fishermen - they kept fishing throughout the war, helping to supply Britain with food. Because of this they were a target of German warships, and proportionally the Faroes lost as many men as any of the fighting nations.
~~
Happy peace time y'all. May we move closer to a day when there are no wars at all.
ETA2 - this is beautiful:
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I wouldn't be here but for WWII, either, as my paternal grandparents would have otherwise lived and died without ever meeting, but it kept my maternal grandparents apart - they met in late 1939, but postponed their engagement and marriage until 1944 as my granddad was very concerned about the idea of leaving Granny as a widow with children. (Which I suppose means also I wouldn't be here, because they would have got married about 5 years sooner and had completely different children.)
no subject