Date: May 8th
Category: Historical Resistance | Hidden Histories | WWII
Today marks VE Day, the celebration of Germany’s surrender and the official end of World War II in Europe. Streets were flooded with flags, dancing, and tears of relief. Churchill gave speeches. Vera Lynn sang. And the world exhaled — for a moment.
But history, as ever, is more than the headlines.
This VE Day, The Time Traveller’s Guild is stepping away from the famous balcony scenes and ticker tape to focus on the unofficial histories — the personal, poignant, often unrecognised acts of resistance and survival that never made it into the parades.
Let’s raise a metaphorical teacup to the invisible victories, the unsung defiers, and the quiet rebellions that helped bring the war to an end.
🏠The Women Who Went Home — and Never Talked
Many women returned from code-breaking, resistance work, or factory shifts to kitchens and silence. Their contributions to the war effort were often classified or dismissed.
- Bletchley Park’s thousands of female workers — from linguists to clerks — signed the Official Secrets Act and were told to “forget everything.”
- SOE agents like Violette Szabo and Noor Inayat Khan received posthumous honours, but their stories were buried for decades.
🧵 Resistance doesn’t always wear a uniform. Sometimes it wears a pinny and holds a baby on one hip.
đź“» The Pirate Broadcasters of France
During the Occupation, dozens of clandestine radio operators ran secret transmitters from attics and barns, risking torture or execution if caught.
Their reward? Static. Sometimes sabotage. And often, no celebration on VE Day — because their towns remained under tight control, or their comrades didn’t make it home.
One operator from Brittany later said:
“We celebrated alone. Our resistance cell had been wiped out in 1944.”
🏳️ The POW Who Refused to Fade
Allied prisoners of war are often portrayed as passive — waiting for rescue. But many resisted from within.
- Flight Lieutenant Douglas Bader, a double amputee, organised morale-building lectures and even theatrical performances in German camps.
- Others hid radios, made fake documents, and smuggled intelligence via Red Cross parcels.
VE Day for them meant freedom — but also grief for those who didn’t make it.
🧥 The Tailors of Warsaw
In occupied Poland, Jewish tailors created hidden compartments in coats and dresses to smuggle food, forged papers, or small weapons.
One such tailor, Rivka Spiegel, made hundreds of coats for resistance fighters disguised as German officers.
She celebrated VE Day by burning her German uniform patterns — and re-opening her tailor shop.
🗺️ Want to Walk in Their Footsteps?
- The Resistance Museum, Amsterdam – Personal stories and artefacts of defiance
- Bletchley Park, UK – Now open to the public, with exhibitions on the women who worked in code
- The Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights, Vilnius – For a Baltic perspective
- Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, France – A small village that quietly sheltered thousands of Jews
🛍️ Commemorate with Quiet Strength
Explore our new “Invisible Victories” collection:
- Tea mugs featuring quotes from forgotten resistors
- A VE Day mini-zine featuring 10 unsung heroes
- Pocket journals inspired by Bletchley notebooks (with real cipher pages inside!)
đź›’ Shop the Collection
đź“š Want to Know More?
- A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell (Virginia Hall, SOE agent)
- Code Girls by Liza Mundy (female codebreakers in the US)
- The Forgotten Resistance: Fighting for the Future in Occupied France by T. Little
- IWM VE Day Oral Histories
🎧 Playlist for Reflection
🎶 VE Day: Beyond the Parade – A mix of resistance songs, wartime ballads, and post-war laments.
Link in bio on Instagram @TimeTravellersGuild
đź’¬ Guild Callout: #InvisibleVictory
This VE Day, we’re collecting stories of quiet resistance and everyday heroes.
Share yours — a photo, a memory, a relative’s untold tale — using #InvisibleVictory and tag us. We’ll honour them in our May 31 tribute post.
