Members of the public have been invited to share their cherished family letters from the Second World War as part of national celebrations of the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced Letters to Loved Ones, a new campaign to collect Second World War letters, in partnership with Imperial War Museums (IWM) and the National Theatre.
Letters can be uploaded on the Letters to Loved Ones online portal.
The Letters to Loved Ones website says: “Do you have letters or postcards sent by your family members during the Second World War to their loved ones? This could include soldiers on the front line; men, women and children on the home front; or relatives who contributed to Britain’s war effort from Britain and Commonwealth countries.
“In partnership with Imperial War Museums, we’re asking young people and families across the UK to share the stories they find here on our Letters to Loved Ones gallery.”
The initiative will mark the 80th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day, marking the end of the Second World War in Europe, on 8 May 2025, and the 80th anniversary of VJ (Victory in Japan) Day, on 15 August.
James Bulgin, head of public history at IWM, said: “VE Day meant an end to war with Nazi Germany and an end to the killing after almost six years of brutal conflict. It also meant that families could finally look forward to being reunited, after years of separation.
“For this 80th anniversary we are inviting schoolchildren to talk to their families, learn more about the Second World War and discover any letters sent by their relatives to loved ones. These can be uploaded to the official VE/VJ Day website so the nation can hear new, as yet untold stories of those who witnessed events first hand.”
Some of the letters will become part of a public performance at a special VE Day event at IWM North in Manchester on 7 May.
To take part in this event, members of the public must submit their letters by 14 April.
Other activities commemorating the 80th anniversary of VE Day include The Next Morning, a new 10-minute film written by award-winning playwright and screenwriter James Graham and produced by the National Theatre.
The film will explore what archival material shows about the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Britain’s young people at the end of the war in 1945.
It will be released online on 8 May.
The DCMS also announced a new set of resources for UK primary and secondary schools to mark the VE Day anniversary.
This will include a special film produced by the RBL entitled I’ll Remember: Discovering the stories of VE and VJ Day 80 with veterans reflecting on their wartime experiences, and young people visiting communities to learn more about the impact and legacy of the Second World War in modern Britain.
A digital time capsule of VE Day stories from Second World War veterans will be created, intended to be opened 80 years from now in 2105, so future generations can remember the service and sacrifice of those who fought for our freedoms. In addition, BAFTA award-winning musician Simon Haw MBE has composed a song, ‘I’ll Remember’, for pupils to sing during VE Day school assemblies.
An immersive augmented reality experience, which DCMS said would “give everyone in the country the opportunity to experience first-hand some of the most iconic images of VE Day”, will be touring the country from April.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) will run more than 150 mobile exhibitions travelling across the UK and a number of global commemorative sites, highlighting the stories of those who fought in the Second World War.