A beacon was lit by His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for County Londonderry, Ian Crowe MBE, at the end of a Civic Service in St Columb’s Cathedral on Wednesday 8th May marking the 80th anniversary of V.E. (Victory in Europe) Day.
Leaders from the city’s four main churches led the congregation in prayers remembering those who gave their lives in World War II and those who serve today; and prayers for peace among nations and in our hearts. Prayers were said, too, for King Charles III, and the congregation pledged themselves to “support those working for the relief of the needy and for the peace and welfare of the nations”.
In a poignant address, the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Rt Rev Andrew Forster, recalled the historic visit by King George VI, his wife, Queen Elizabeth, and their two daughters, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, on their victory tour after V.E. Day, during which – on 18th July 1945 – they attended a Service of Thanksgiving in the Cathedral. “A few short months earlier,” Bishop Forster said, “in his speech on V.E. Day, the King began by thanking Almighty God for such a great deliverance.”
Londonderry played a key and vital role in the great deliverance that the King spoke of, Bishop Andrew said. “Here was the fulcrum of the longest continuous military campaign of World War II – the Battle of the Atlantic.” At one point, the Bishop said, 140 Allied escort ships were based on the Foyle and without the protection of the supply routes, the outcome of the war could have been very different. “So, it is hugely appropriate that 80 years after [V.E. Day], we gather in this place with hearts filled with gratitude, and hearts filled also with poignant thankfulness that such a terrible conflict ended and the evil of war was swept away in a renewed love of peace.”
Bishop Andrew shared a moving account of a conversation he had with his late father who was nearing the end of his life in which he recalled being driven into Belfast to join the V.E. Day celebrations. “What he remembered most of that night, as a 15-year-old boy, was that all the lights were on. For six years there’d been a total blackout. Air raid wardens patrolled the streets making sure no light spilled from any window. The street lights had had their bulbs removed. Even the traffic lights were switched off. But that night, the lights came on again.”
The Bishop said there was light and there was darkness in every human heart, and often there was internal conflict between those two things. “The lessons of human history show us that a root of bitterness can grow into a weed of hatred that becomes a swamp of destruction. In some way, that was the perverted outworking of Nazism – the darkness won in people’s hearts. Do we let the darkness win in our own context? Is a root of bitterness growing into a weed of hatred? History shows us that that will lead us into a swamp of destruction. Search our own hearts, find the light, celebrate the light and ask that the light of Christ will become so evident in your heart that it will drive out the darkness.”
This evening’s service was led by the Dean of Derry, Very Rev Raymond Stewart, who was assisted by the Bishop of Derry, Dr Donal McKeown; the Minister of Glendermott Presbyterian Church, Rev Stephen Hibbert; the Minister of Carlisle Road and Clooney Hall Methodist Churches, Rev Peter Morris; members of the Cathedral Chapter of St Columb; and Bishop Forster. In attendance were prominent members of civic society in Derry-Londonderry, including the Lord-Lieutenant for the County Borough of Londonderry, Ian Crowe, Deputy Mayor, Alderman Darren Guy, senior police officers and local politicians.
Music was provided by the Cathedral Choir of Girl Choristers and Lay Clerks, directed by Louis Fields and accompanied by organist Nicky Morton.
