Discover the stories behind the smiles
How did your town celebrate Victory in Europe? Delve deep into our vast newspaper archives to really understand life in wartime Britain this #VEDay80
The colourful history of VE Day in black and white
Start by searching below for a place or person that matters to you, combined with a keyword such as ‘Victory parade’, ‘VE Day’, ‘Victory in Europe’, ‘celebration’, or ‘street party’.
When you continue to the results page, follow these steps to uncover incredible moments from May 1945
Refine your search with the handy filters - Set the date to May 1945, choose your town or region, and narrow your search by selecting local-to-you newspaper titles
Find relatives and friends celebrating together - Add more than one name in a single search, you could soon discover incredible World War 2 stories that affected your entire community
Save your VE Day discoveries to your family tree - Or create a Collection of newspaper snippets to curate this pivotal piece of history as it happened
Start your family tree this VE Day
Discover your relatives' lives, lifestyles and livelihoods during World War 2
Add family members who lived through wartime - we’ll help unearth their records
Our smart family tree hints reveal fascinating details from the 1939 Register, censuses, church records and more
Explore shared connections in millions of Findmypast family trees and piece together your family’s wartime story
Get closer to everyday life in wartime Britain
Air raid sirens boomed. A blackout engulfed the nation’s streets. Families were torn apart.
Gain a richer understanding of your relatives’ experiences in a nation at war.
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