London Victory Celebrations of 1946

[1][2] On 1 November 1945 the Prime Minister appointed a committee under the chairmanship of the Home Secretary, James Chuter Ede to formulate plans for official Victory Celebrations.

The celebrations took place in London on 8 June 1946,[3] and consisted mainly of a military parade through the city and a night time fireworks display.

[2] Most British allies took part in the parade, including Belgium, Brazil, China, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Luxembourg the Netherlands and the United States.

The contingent consisted of 250 servicemen and women, drawn from the three services, including Private Richard Kelliher, who had won the Victoria Cross in the Battle of Lae in 1943.

Britons including Winston Churchill, figures in the RAF and a number of MPs protested against the decision, which was described as an affront to the Polish war effort as well as an immoral concession to communist power.

These invitations were declined,[20] and the airmen refused to participate in protest against the omission of the other branches of the Western backed Polish forces in exile.

After sunset, the principal buildings of London were lit by floodlights, and crowds thronged the banks of the Thames and Westminster Bridge to watch King George VI and his family proceed down the river in the royal barge.