Today we mark the 80th anniversary of Europe’s liberation from the Nazi regime.
Huge sighs of relief were combined with bonfires and street parties back in 1945 when Germany finally capitulated after six years of war.
And the bunting will be coming out again as our generation gives thanks for that victory, and remembers those who gave their lives in the fight for freedom.
Thousands of people from Barrow and Furness served in Armed Forces during the second world war.
With the shipyard as their primary target German warplanes first visited our area in the small hours of April 14 – Easter Monday – in 1941.
On that occasion two bombs were dropped on the Steelworks, but Vernon Street and Napier Street were also hit killing 14 people and totally demolishing six houses.
To this day the scars are still to be seen in the streets of Barrow.
The Luftwaffe returned throughout April and May and in total 83 civilians were killed, 330 were injured and more than 10,000 houses were damaged or destroyed.
My grandad Sgt Charles Arthur Beadell served and like many others sacrificed much, thankfully not his life and I’m incredibly lucky to have had those memories and precious times with him. When remembering those who served, my thoughts often go to the men he served with who never made it back.
The cenotaphs and war memorials across Furness tell their own stories of our fallen in this conflict – but by 1943 the tide had begun to turn and the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, signalled the beginning of the end for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
This week local residents have taken to the streets to show their appreciation to the war generation.
Today I will be in London where I will be proudly representing our area at a special ceremony in Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall, to mark VE Day and remember the enormous sacrifices that were made.
