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New York Times, May 9, 1995
1 At precisely the appointed time, 12:39 P.M., the most beloved person in Britain—a frail, 94-year-old
woman dressed all in springtime yellow—stepped out onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace today. And
just as they did half a century before, tens of thousands of revelers spread out below her erupted in one big
roar.
2 A fanfare of trumpets went up, ancient-looking World War II warplanes droned overhead and so many
Union Jacks waved back and forth that The Mall turned into a froth of red, white and blue, all in
celebration of the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
3 In her appearance on the balcony, the Queen Mother recreated a moment 50 years earlier, when what
was thought to be an even larger throng swarmed around the palace, with its boarded-up windows,
demanding to see King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the current “Queen Mum,” who had stayed with
them during the Blitz and beyond. With their two children, Elizabeth and Margaret, they stepped out to
acknowledge the cheers.
4 Today’s anniversary of the Allied victory over Germany could not capture the spontaneity of the original
V-E Day, but Britons made up for it by adding a bath of nostalgia to the recreation, with jitterbugging in
Hyde Park, “Woolton Pie” made from root vegetables served at the Savoy, Dame Vera Lynn singing “The
White Cliffs of Dover” for the umpteenth time, and bonfires and block parties across the country.
5 Elsewhere in Europe, the day was marked with festivities and ceremonies large and small, joyful and
solemn.
6 In Paris, President Francois Mitterrand and President-elect Jacques Chirac presided at a gathering of
leaders from nearly 80 countries reviewing a parade at the Arc de Triomphe. An unpleasant note was
sounded when thousands of Parisians, angry at being kept away because of tight security, jeered dignitaries
as they left in a caravan down the Champs-Elysees.
7 World leaders, including Vice President Al Gore, had traveled from London Sunday night by the Channel
tunnel and then after the commemorations in Paris moved on again to Berlin for more speeches and
ceremonies. The series of observances is to end on Tuesday in Moscow, where the leaders are to be joined
by President Clinton.
8 In Belgium King Albert and Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene went to the town of Liege, where the
Resistance had been strong, to lay flowers at a monument to those who fought the Nazi occupation.
9 In Norway, Resistance fighters paraded down the central avenue under the eye of King Harald. “The
nightmare ended 50 years ago today,” he said later, laying a wreath at the Akershus fortress.
10 In Poland, where the war began, there were still expressions of bitterness that liberation from the Nazis
was soon followed by domination by the Soviet Union. “For Poland the fight for independence did not end
in May 1945,” President Lech Walesa proclaimed before a joint session of Parliament. “It lasted another
half a century.”
11 One sign of the inconceivable vastness of the war’s carnage is that there is no agreement on how many
died. In defeating the Third Reich, the Soviet Union alone may have lost as many as 27 million people.
Overall estimates of both civilian and military dead vary from 48 million to 60 million.
12 For Britain, which stood alone against the Nazi military machine in the months before Germany
attacked its supposed Soviet ally, today’s celebration, capping three days of festivities, was a throwback to
an era of sacrifice and hardship but also one of camaraderie and pride. It was bathed in nostalgia.
From “V-E Day Plus 50: London; At Buckingham Palace, Solemn and Joyful Echoes of 1945” by John
Darnton, The New York Times, May 9, 1995. Copyright © 1995 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with
permission.
Reading Comprehension
48