Veteran’s untold stories among those being told today
Many veterans taking part in VE Day commemorations have not told their stories before, the director general of the Royal British Legion (RBL) said.
Mark Atkinson told BBC Breakfast: “We want to make sure that all of our veterans are at the very heart of these commemorations so we put the call out to invite people to step forward, to share their experiences, to tell their stories and to be here today at Buckingham Palace for the start of what is a week of commemorations and celebrations.
“But so many people coming forward having never really shared in any detail their experiences of the Second World War so we’re delighted to put them right at the centre of these commemorations.”
Mr Atkinson said RBL is supporting 30 veterans at Buckingham Palace on Monday, aged between 98 and 104.
“It will be one of the last opportunities that we all have to thank those veterans and their families for their service,” he continued.
“And hearing that first hand is incredibly important. It will soon be a historical fact – those stories and those voices and those experiences won’t be heard in the same way.”
