Mr VE (Victor Edward) Day is ready to celebrate the 75th VE Day anniversary
Victor Edward Day - otherwise known as Mr V E Day! Picture: Supplied by Liz Humphries - Credit: Supplied by Liz Humphries
He might have been only two on VE Day - but Victor Edward Day has the perfect name for the 75th anniversary commemorations.
Victor Edward Day with his grandson, Nathaniel Humphries Picture: Supplied by Liz Humphries - Credit: Archant
The Ipswich grandad was born in 1943, and given his iconic initials purely by coincidence.
As well as having the name VE Day himself, he also has an older brother, born in 1939, whose name is David, meaning his initials are D Day.
“We were both born before the events!” Mr Day said.
The 77-year-old underwent a quadruple heart by-pass at Papworth Hospital in February, and is now recovering well.
Victor Edward Day and wife Brenda at their wedding at Cauldwell Hall Road Baptist Church, September 11, 1971 - Credit: Archant
You may also want to watch:
“I’m feeling a lot better and we have just been decorating our house with flags and bunting ready for the VE Day anniversary,” he said.
He and his wife, Brenda, have been self-isolating, so their family have not been able to see them during lockdown.
Most Read
- 1 Teenager seriously injured in Ipswich stabbing
- 2 Aldi to retain Whitton Meredith Road store after taking it off the market
- 3 New mass vaccination centre in Ipswich opens today
- 4 Danger warning after seal pup rescued from fishing net by member of public
- 5 Police continue to investigate stabbing of teenager
- 6 Police on scene of 'ongoing incident' in Ipswich cul-de-sac
- 7 Teenage drug dealer carrying knuckleduster spared jail
- 8 Suffolk gets its first ever Michelin Star
- 9 Covid rips through Suffolk care homes again with deaths up 50% in a week
- 10 Coronavirus case rates in Suffolk continue to fall below national average
Daughter Liz Humphries said it had been really difficult not being able to visit. “This is the longest time my sister, brother and I have all gone without seeing him.”
She said it had been especially hard when her father was home after his operation, but she could not go and help her mother to look after him, first to avoid any risk of infection and then because of lockdown.
The couple live in Brunswick Road, where some residents are preparing to have VE Day picnics in their front gardens - while observing strict social distancing.
READ MORE - Vera Elizabeth prepares to mark 75th birthday on VE DayAs he was only a toddler when the war ended, Mr Day does not remember the celebrations on May 8, 1945, but he said: “My older sister is 88 and would have been 13, so she would remember it.
“We had a party at my sister’s house in London which I think was 25 years ago for the 50th anniversary.”
Around the same time, he and his brother were both invited to appear on a breakfast TV show hosted by the late Dale Winton - because of their unique pair of names.
“We had to go along to the studio, and we found ourselves sitting next to the famous athlete Daley Thompson and actress Honor Blackman,” Mr Day recalled.
He said his father served in the First World War and was wounded at Passchendaele, and was then in the Home Guard during the Second World War.
At that time, the family lived near the old airport, and Mr Day remembers as a child walking past a house just a few doors away which had been destroyed by a bomb.
