London Victory Parade of 1946

The London Victory Parade of 1946 was a British victory parade held after the defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan in World War II. It took place in the United Kingdom capital of London, on June 8, 1946, mainly encompassing a military parade through the city.

Controversies

There has recently been some controversy on the BBC World War II site regarding the date of the Victory Celebrations in Europe and whether or not there was actually a Victory Parade held in London on VJ Day itself.BBC WW2 People's War - "VJ Procession and the Tramps by Gordon Sharrard". (Online) Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/99/a4648999.shtml}]

It is also notable for the exclusion of all Polish servicemen; hundreds thousands of whom served in the Polish Armed Forces in the West as one of the largest Allied contingents. The 303 squadron was the only Polish unit invited; it declined because the invitation was not extended to any other Polish unit, despite Poland being the fourth largest European ally during World War II. Poles were expected to attend the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945, and the Allies did not want to antagonize Stalin, whose Soviet Union claimed Poland under their sphere of influence. This is considered one of the causes of the feeling of "Western Betrayal" in Poland.Rudolf Falkowski, [http://www.geocities.com/skrzydla/Victory_parade.html THE VICTORY PARADE] . Last accessed on 31 March 2007.] Lynne Olson, Stanley Cloud, "A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II ", Knopf, 2003, ISBN 0375411976, [http://www.questionofhonor.com/prologue.htm Excerpt (prologue)] .] Kwan Yuk Pan, [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0d441dfa-ecf1-11d9-9d20-00000e2511c8.html Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade] , Financial Times, July 5 2005. Last accessed on 31 March 2006.]

References

External links

* [http://www.naval-history.net/WW2VictoryParade1.htm Official Programme of the Victory Celebrations]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/40/a4768040.shtml Victory Parade, London 1946 by Ron Goldstein (BBC WW2 People's War Archive) An eye witness account.]