AS preparations ramp up for VE Day 80 commemorations in West Devon, a pub, a museum and a moorland village are staging special events.

There are national and local events planned which remember the people who made the ultimate sacrifice and celebrate victory over the Nazis, with Thursday, May 8 being the 80th anniversary since the end of World War Two.

A full programme of events is planned in Tavistock, see story on this page, and Tavistock Museum has just finished setting up a WWII VE Day exhibition.

This includes a celebration of the town’s Home Guard, the story of a child evacuee from bombed out London’s East End and a mock-up of an air raid shelter.

Meanwhile, in Princetown on Thursday there will be a remembrance wreath-laying at the war memorial at 11am, followed by the unveiling of a VE Day 80 plaque on a memorial tree in the play park. This will be followed by a community lunch served at the school from 12 noon to 1pm, open to all.

On the weekend after VE Day, on Saturday and Sunday, May 10 and 11, a military-themed VE Day exhibition is being staged by the Fox and Grapes pub in Lifton.

Landlord Phil Hockin is holding a nostalgic community VE Day weekend on May 10/11 at his pub the Fox and Grapes in Lifton. He is pictured getting into the spirit of the planned event.
Landlord Phil Hockin is holding a nostalgic community VE Day weekend on May 10/11 at his pub the Fox and Grapes in Lifton. He is pictured getting into the spirit of the planned event. (Tindle)

The pub event begins at Saturday at 1pm with a barbecue then at 3pm there will be a weapons demonstration and a helicopter will treat everyone to a flypast at a time to be confirmed.

The Sunday event begins at 10am with a procession of vintage military vehicles followed by the barbecue from 1pm and weapons demonstration at 2pm. Then there will be a poignant tribute by a solitary piper, in tribute to wartime bagpiper Bill Millin who famously played a morale-boosting tune under fire on the D-Day’s Sword beach. This will be followed by a remembrance ceremony at 4pm and a concert by Launceston Town Band. The helicopter will take off and leave at a time to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, in Tavistock Museum visitors can experience an audiovisual depiction of an air raid with mocked up taped-up windows and a recording of an air-raid warden telling people to switch their lights off accompanied by the air raid siren, so familiar in London.

Sally-Ann Martin, museum visitor experience officer, said: “The exhibition will be here a few months and celebrates the roles of civilians and volunteers back home in this area during the war. We have a mannequin of an air raid warden and photos of the local Home Guard, or Dad’s Army. Just like the TV version, there were people like the bank manager who were prepared to put on their uniforms and defend us all.

“Then we have the life story of Ken Bell who was evacuated from London to the safety of Whitchurch and has stayed there the rest of his life. And we have a recreated packed little suitcase which Ken would have made his new life with.”

Centre stage is an interpretation of a Morrison air raid shelter to protect families indoors, instead of going to the outdoor Anderson shelter.

The role of the WWII Home Guard is celebrated at Tavistock Museum. Pictured is a unit at Mary Tavy in 1944. They inckluded a Plymouth bank manager, bus driver, blacksmith and Mount House School headmaster.
The role of the WWII Home Guard is celebrated at Tavistock Museum. Pictured is a unit at Mary Tavy in 1944. Their ranks included a Plymouth bank manager, a bus driver, blacksmith and Mount House School headmaster. (Tavistock Museum)
Sally-Ann (Tavistock Museum visitor experience officer) showing off the child evacuee suitcase at the museum'sVE Day exhibition.
Tavistock Museum visitor experience officer Sally-Ann Martin showing off a child evacuee’s suitcase in the museum's VE Day exhibition. (Tindle)