VE Day 75th anniversary’s added poignancy – The Yorkshire Post says

People will have time to reflect on the sacrifices that were made in the name of freedom – and how today’s hardships over Covid-19, and inability to lead normal lives while the lockdown is in place, do need to be set in the context of the bloody battles waged between 1914-18 and then 1939-45.

It’s also important that the country takes this opportunity to honour the last surviving veterans of the Second World War. A diminishing number as age catches up with the greatest of generations, their courage has, more recently, been epitomised by the record-breaking NHS fundraiser Captain Tom Moore who turns 100 tomorrow.

As such, it is fitting that members of the Royal family, and senior politicians, will take part in video calls with WW2 veterans to express the country’s gratitude. At a time of self-isolation, such calls will have even more meaning.

So, too, the national two minute silence at 11am before the Queen addresses the nation at 9pm, the exact moment her father, King George VI, gave a radio address in 1945.

This, too, promises to be a historic occasion before families are encouraged to take to their doorsteps to sing We’ll Meet Again, the Second World War anthem and theme of the Queen’s message to the country at the start of this month.

A day of reflection, it will also be a day of hope – just like 75 years ago.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

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Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor