WHAT:           Cayman Islands joins in the 70th Anniversary of “Victory in Europe”

with a Beacon-Lighting Ceremony.

WHO:              HE the Governor Helen Kilpatrick, CB and Premier Alden McLaughlin and other Government dignitaries

Capt. Dale Banks – President of the CI Veterans Association

Veterans and their relatives

Cayman Islands Veterans Association officials & members

WHEN:          This Friday – 8 May 2015 at 8.00pm

WHERE:         Cayman Turtle Farm (Seaside) – West Bay, Grand Cayman

BACKGROUND:

Seventy years ago, Allied Forces in Europe were victorious after nearly six years of war against Nazi Germany. To mark the event, large fires or beacons were lit on mountaintops, town and village greens, country parks and estates, farms; and – on Islands such as ours – along beaches and shorelines.

This will be repeated at the seashore near Cayman Turtle Farm on 8 May, when HE the Governor lights the beacon at the Cayman Islands ceremony in the presence of local vets

Related story:

Fire Signals War Victory – This Friday Night (8)

The seaside of the Cayman Turtle Farm will be the site of a public bonfire to mark the end of the Second World War in Europe, during a special ceremony at the Cayman Turtle Farm this Friday, 8 May 2015. The event is open to the public, and will be from 8pm until 10pm.

The Cayman Islands’ beacon (and more than 200 others beacons located throughout the hemisphere) will commemorate the 70th anniversary of “Victory in Europe”, also known as VE Day. (On 8 May 1945, Allied Forces in the Second World War accepted the formal surrender of Nazi Germany.)

Friday evening’s celebration will include Cayman Islands Veterans Association (CIVA) officials, led by President Dale Banks (a former captain in the United States Air Force), as well as surviving CIVA members and relatives.

They will be joined by Her Excellency the Governor, Helen Kilpatrick; Premier Hon. Alden McLaughlin; and other Government and community leaders.

To mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day, large fires, or beacons, will be lit on mountaintops, town and village greens, country parks and estates, farms; and, on Islands such as ours, along beaches and shorelines. These were also lit in Britain during that time, and are a longstanding tradition for occasions such as Royal Jubilees, weddings and coronations.

In times of war these beacons served as warnings and were the responsibility of the armed services, which will also receive recognition as part of the 8 May festivities.

Many young men from the Cayman Islands fought alongside Allied Forces from the United Kingdom and the United States during World War II. Most joined the Trinidad Royal Navy Volunteers and served in active duty, especially protecting the oil resources around that island.

In addition to Atlantic Sea conflicts, German ships and submarines also targeted vessels in the Caribbean, especially near oil-rich Trinidad, but also around the northern Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Cayman Islands.

Accordingly, a local Home Guard unit received military training, manned watchtowers constructed at strategic locations around the Islands, and were responsible for the maintenance of warning beacons.

Credits: Information Officer Lennon Christian

Images & illustrations supplied by CIVA/Cayman Islands National Archives.

“VE Day” Anniversary Beacons logo.

Other Resources / Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_in_Europe_Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties

EDITOR:  Once again the Captain of the Home Guard, Major Roddy Watler has been left out of this story. We have added his photograph to the story.