Bluebird Care Celebrates VE Day

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day, Bluebird Care is proud to share the incredible story of one of our customers, who bravely fought in the war.

On May 8th, 1945, victory in Europe was announced, marking the end of the second world war. 

This was the day when the allied forces announced that Germany had surrendered, and the war was over, sparking mass celebrations across the world.

The 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war will take place this coming week; although scaled down due to the current pandemic, the UK will still be marking this momentous occasion. 

At Bluebird Care, we too shall be marking this incredible day - a day that shows that even in our darkest times, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and like everything else, this too shall pass. 

As part of our celebrations to mark this important date in European history, we wanted to share the story of one of our customers, who bravely fought in the war and has an incredible tale to tell. 

For many of our customers who actively fought in the second world war, including RAF Veteran Owen, this year’s celebrations hold a special place in their hearts. Six years of war across the world had cost the lives of millions of people, and had finally come to a close. 

Owen was 17 and working as a Junior Clerk for Devon County Council when war broke out. Like many men, he was desperate to join the RAF, despite his young age. 

He said: “If you volunteered, you had to get committee approval from the council to secure your position after the war. If you registered as a conscientious objector, you had to leave.” 

After receiving permission, Owen signed up to the RAF on his 18th birthday and began service on 6th January 1941. 

From 1941 to 1943, Owen served as a Wireless Radio Operator until on 1st October 1943, Owen and his companions; Mac, Jock and Jack, conducted their last mission. 

The team were bombing in Italy when the Boston 3A they were flying was caught in a violent electrical storm, went off course and was almost out of fuel when the decision was made to ‘ditch’ (land on the sea) off the coast of Sicily. 

Owen recalls: “Jock suddenly shouted ‘HIT’… I felt a violent blow on the head and nothing more till I came to, and found myself floating around in the sea, by myself.”

Owen, like so many other world war two veterans, has PTSD from his experience, but like many service people at that time, it wasn’t acknowledged or treated. Now he has counselling in place to help him through it. 

When he was hospitalised after the accident, Owen remembers being mischievous with the matron in the hospital, he and his pals asking the nurse for fairy stories at bedtime and standing up to the warrant officer to get himself some clean clothes and shoes.

For men like Owen, who served in the second world war and lost close friends during that time, the VE Day celebrations are always somewhat bittersweet, bringing the memories flooding back. 

5 Fascinating facts about the RAF during World War Two

• The RAF was the last of the three services to be formed, and as such, is known as the ‘Junior Service’, it was formed on April 1 1918.
• In September 1939, at the outbreak of World War Two, the first-line strength of the RAF in the United Kingdom was about 2,000 aircraft
• 5 The Force’s motto is “Per Ardua Ad Astra”, Latin for “Through adversity to the stars”.
• During the Second World War, the RAF had 1.2 million men and women. Around 70,000 RAF personnel were killed. 
• At one point, a pilot’s life expectancy was just four weeks.