At 3pm on 8th May 1945 the BBC interrupted its scheduled programming to broadcast an announcement by Prime Minister Winston Churchill who informed the nation that the war in Europe had ended. In his speech he announced that May 8th would be a national holiday and be deemed Victory in Europe day, later to be known as VE Day.

VE Day marks the day the Second World War Allies formally accepted an unconditional surrender by the armed forces of Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich, after six years of one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history.

In the UK, the red poppy is the national symbol of remembrance. Poppies are flowers of the fields which, despite the devastation and horrific loss of life in war torn Europe, flourished and grew on battlefields. The Lincoln VE 80 Project will honour the occasion with a  Service of Thanksgiving, on the 11th May, and an installation of stunning handcrafted ceramic poppies, shaped into a Lancaster Bomber, created using over 20,000 individual and unique flowers and accompanied by an exhibition, will be on display from Easter until the end of August.