London - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday attended a thanksgiving service at London's Westminster Abbey on the final day of commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (VE Day).
She was accompanied by husband Prince Philip, son Prince Charles, Prime Minister David Cameron and around 1,000 veterans and their families.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, leader of the Anglican church, delivered an address at the service, which was to be followed by a parade of serving military personnel and veterans past the balcony of the Treasury building, where wartime leader Winston Churchill made his famous VE Day address.
"On VE Day we sailed in and took over the port at Cuxhaven from the German command," recalled veteran Alistair Wicks, 91, a former minesweeper with the Royal Navy.
"We didn't know immediately that the war was over. It just sort of filtered down. There was no battle. It was quite emotional because we were frightened and hopelessly outnumbered."
Current and historic aircraft -- including wartime Hurricanes, Spitfires and Lancasters -- were then to perform a flypast over central London.
VE Day itself fell on Friday, when commemorations kicked off with a service at the Cenotaph war memorial in central London attended by Cameron, whose Conservatives were re-elected to government the previous day.
AFP
