It was going to be a party to remember.
Three quarters of a century after Winston Churchill declared victory in Europe, celebrations had been planned across the continent to recreate the spirit of the original parties in 1945.
Instead, the 75thanniversary of VE Day will be marked in people’s homes, the coronavirus pandemic forcing all public events to be cancelled.
“I’m very disappointed, but at the end of the day, the safety of the public comes first, it must do,” Britain’s VE Day pageant-master Bruce Peek told SBS News.
“We wanted to make the 75th a big anniversary because It will be the last really big one that veterans and their partners will still be around to celebrate.”
Boris Johnson lights a candle at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior ahead of commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Source: Getty
D-Day veteran Mervyn Kersh can vividly remember the moment he found out the Nazis had surrendered.
“I was on the train from Germany to come back to the UK to go on to the invasion of Japan,” he told SBS News.
“We boarded up for 30 hours, sleeping most of the time because there was very little light and nothing to do, and I got out at Bruges and there was excitement that the war was over the day before and I knew nothing about it, I must have been the last one in Europe to know that the war was over."
Now 95 years old, the COVID-19 lockdown means Mr Kersh is missing the party this year too.
Mervyn Kersh only found out the war was over the day after. Source: SBS News
“There is a certain comparison between the pandemic today and the war, but in the war you knew where the enemy was, you could see an enemy or knew where he was, here you got an enemy which is invisible.
"You don't know whether it's around or not, a complete uncertainty, the measures taken have got to be just as strong."
The British Government is urging the public to get involved, while respecting social distancing regulations.
At 3pm BST (midnight in Australia), Winston Churchill’s famous victory speech will be re-broadcast. People will be encouraged to raise a glass and say “to those who gave so much, we thank you”.
At 9pm BST (6am Saturday in Australia), the Queen will speak to the nation on television, exactly 75 years after her father, King George VI, gave a radio address to mark the end of hostilities.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron will lay a wreath at an empty Arc de Triomphe, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel will pay her respects at the Memorial for Victims of War and Tyranny.
For many, the day will be a chance to learn more about a conflict they studied in school, or saw depicted in films.
But for a special few, the anniversary is a chance to recall fond memories.
The date 8 May 1945 wasn’t just VE Day for Ken Hay. It was the day he and his brother were reunited.
Ken Hay was reunited with his brother on 8 May 1945. Source: Supplied
"When I heard footsteps, I turned around and there was my brother running down the road to get home and he had spotted us up at front, we just threw our arms around each other,” the veteran said.
“The last time I'd seen him was out in a field in Normandy. When I got captured and he got back, I didn't know he'd got back. He was always my hero… so, I think we cried".
Mr Hay fondly remembers the parties too.
"We were taking it in and everybody was waving, dancing and so on. And then somebody, some girls called out: 'Hey Soldier give us a kiss!'
"All the women were sort of coming around kissing you, I never had anybody kissing me since. Everybody was coming up and kissing, [saying] well done, shaking hands and so on, it was a very joyous moment."
