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SPECIAL
VE DAY 75
TH
ANNIVERSARY FEATURES
A TR IB U T E T O O UR F IG H T I NG PA ST
ISSUE
157
R
Rare Interview with
John Cruickshank
The Last Air VC?
VE DAY
•
The Last 100 Days of War in Europe
•
Churchill’s Victory Speeches
•
Celebrations and Street Parties
75 ANNIVERSARY
TH
Great War
Game Changer
Britain's Hard-hitting
Lewis Gun
MAY 2020
UK £4.99
WELCOME
From the Editor
PHOTO CREDIT: JAMIE EWAN
It can’t have escaped anyone’s
notice that the world is gripped
by an alarming pandemic that’s
changing life for everyone on the
planet. Worrying for the welfare
of loved ones, travel restrictions,
difficulty in buying food, a greater
military presence on the streets/
skies, shops and services closing,
livelihoods being lost – the list
goes on. While we were working
on bringing you this VE-Day 75
th
anniversary issue of
Britain at War,
it struck me that the
current situation would, in many ways, be very familiar
to the wartime generation. They too suffered the dread of
losing friends and relatives, fearing for their own lives. But
they, of course, endured far greater and prolonged hardship.
There are other similarities; community spirit has generally
become much stronger in recent weeks and the notion that ‘we’re
all in this together’ has taken hold across much of the UK and the
wider world. We also have a new generation of heroes on the
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front line; health workers and those performing vital services.
While they are not at war, they are putting their lives at risk
for the nation. Even some major manufacturing companies
are switching from making their usual products to producing
items, such as ventilators, to help safeguard lives. This also seems
reminiscent of both World Wars for instance when joinery firms
moved from making furniture to producing aircraft in the 1914-
1918 conflict.
Of course our forebears suffered years of war and all that came
with it; the worst of the current crisis is expected to be over
in a much shorter period of time. I think it will give current
generations a greater understanding of what it was like on the
Home Front all those years ago.
Let’s do all we can to prevent the tragic loss of life from
growing, keep ourselves and loved ones safe, and preserve the
community spirit long after this awful virus has been defeated.
And let’s look forward to the happier days that surely lie ahead.
Nigel Price, Editor
'BRITAIN AT WAR' MAGAZINE,
PO BOX 100, STAMFORD, LINCOLNSHIRE, PE9 1XQ
CONTACT@BRITAINATWAR.COM
WWW.BRITAINATWAR.COM
3
MAY 2020
Contents
Issue No.157
43
VE DAY 75
Turn to page 43 for our VE Day
75 commemorative content.
Features
The Last Airman VC
In a rare interview to mark
the 100
th
birthday of John
Cruickshank VC, Graham
Pitchfork speaks to the sole
surviving air VC about his
remarkable valour.
14
Battle of Elands River
Gerry van Tonder explains how
500 Dominion troops endured
snipers, extreme thirst, and
a heavy bombardment when
their remote staging post was
surrounded by Boer forces.
98
Last 100 Days
of War in Europe
44
Dr Peter Caddick-Adams
describes the pivotal final
weeks of the war in Europe
as the Allies closed in on
Germany from both east
and west.
The Triangle Girls
Dr Melanie Bassett of the
University of Portsmouth outlines
new research highlighting the
vital role of female workers at
Portsmouth Royal Dockyard
during the Great War.
26
Unwilling Spectators
76
When thousands of Rwandans
were massacred at Kibeho, a
group of Australian peacekeepers
did all in their power to save
lives, as Dr David Sutton details.
“General ‘Ike’
Eisenhower, even
made a bet with
his unruly British
subordinate
Bernard ‘Monty’
Montgomery that the
European war would
end before Christmas
– and lost”
Winning Words
With Germany defeated,
Britain’s prime minister,
Winston Churchill, gave
three victory speeches on
VE Day. You can read them
here, word for word.
66
Celebrations and
Street Parties
72
We present a portfolio of
photographs showing
the joyous scenes that filled
the streets 75 years ago.
Cover Story
Our cover story
commemorates the 75
th
anniversary of VE Day, plus
we pay tribute to pilot John
Cruickshank VC, on the
eve of his 100
th
birthday.
76
Briefings
Navy’s Last Wartime
8
Destroyer Captain Dies
Britain’s final link to
its wartime destroyer
commanders, Lieutenant-
Commander John Manners,
DSC, has passed away
aged 105.
‘Resistance’ Weapons
10
Found in Dutch Town
A cache of weapons and
ammunition thought to
have belonged to the Dutch
Resistance has been unearthed
near Nijmegen.
Successful UXO Hunt
12
for Navy Minehunter
HMS
Grimsby
finds an incredible
19 unexploded wartime mines
and bombs during March and
April 2020.
4
WWW.BRITAINATWAR.COM
M O N TH
Brevet Major
John Knox VC
HERO
of the
110
This month, Lord Ashcroft
profiles the circumstances
behind one of the earliest
VCs awarded and one which,
remarkably, was sold along
with the cannonball that
wounded the gallant recipient.
Regulars
Image of War
Militaria
Field Post
35
22
14
Recon Report
Weapons of War
Collections
41
106
86
95
86
A subscription to
Britain at War
Magazine
makes a great gift.
See pages
24 and 25 for details.
WWW.BRITAINATWAR.COM
5

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