Ken Nairn
I run my own business based in Wellington Square for the past 15 years. I am a dedicated advocate for the Ayr community and for many years was the chairman of a large youth football club. I played a crucial role in the successful campaign to save the Old Racecourse Playing Fields from development in 2005, leading the football community in Ayrshire in their fight to preserve this valuable green space.
My passion is telling the fascinating history of the town and people of Ayr and for the past 8 years I have been conducting historical walks in the town.
In 2021 I was appointed as a speaker and tour guide for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, charged with telling the stories of the 1.7 million, one of whom is my grandfather, who fell in both wars and are looked after by the Commission.
I was awarded the SYFA Regional Volunteer Award in May 2013 for my work in both club and national football. In 2022 I was the first volunteer in Scotland to be awarded the Spotlight award by the CWGC for going above and beyond.
Terry Wright
My name is Terry Wright, and I live in Ayr. I was born and raised in Plymouth but decided to join the Royal Air Force rather than the Royal Navy - much to my father’s dismay! My nine years operational service as a Radar Engineer kept me largely in the UK.
When I demobbed, I joined NATS as an Air Traffic Control Engineer, spending four years in the Shetland Isles at Sumburgh airport, subsequently moving down to work in the Air Traffic Control Centre at Prestwick.
Much of my adult life has seen me volunteering, as I was a crew member on Girvan Lifeboat for 14 years. My interest in cycling led me to a Marshalling Team Leader’s role at three Commonwealth Games: Glasgow, Brisbane and Birmingham. In addition, I took the same role at the European Championships and the UCI World Championships, held in Scotland, and numerous UCI Cycling Championships elsewhere.
Having grown up in a city with a large military connection I was aware of the memorials to the fallen of both World Wars and so, when the opportunity arrived in 2022, I volunteered for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. My role in the CWGC is threefold: as a Tour Guide, Speaker and Eyes on Hands On volunteer. The EOHO role means I clean and maintain 272 casualties in 7 cemeteries, the largest of which is Ayr with 214 casualties.
VE80 is important to me as it commemorates the service and sacrifice of the entire Second World War generation from British, Commonwealth and Allied Forces to evacuees and those who served on the home front.
1939
March
Despite reassurances given to Neville Chamberlain in the Treaty of Munich in September 1938 Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia.
March/April
Britain began to rearm and reassured Poland that the country would come to her aid should the need arise.
August
Germany and Russia signed a pact
1 Sep
Germany invaded Poland.
3 Sep
Britain and France declare war on Germany
1940
A period of calm followed the declaration of war with Great Britain not being part of any military activity until May. This is now referred to as ‘The Phoney War’.
April/May
Hitler invaded Norway and Denmark.
10 May
Blitzkrieg – Lightening war against Holland and Belgium. Both countries were occupied.
13 May
Neville Chamberlain resigned and Winston Churchill became the head of a coalition wartime government. Coal and aircraft production, particularly fighters, was increased.
26 May
Operation Dynamo
The evacuation from Dunkirk of more than 338,000 troops by any seaworthy craft that was deemed fit enough to cross the Channel. (140,000 of them French who would be instrumental in forming the Free French Army under Charles De Gaulle.
11 June
Italy entered the war on the side of Germany.
22 June
France signed an armistice with Germany resulting in the country’s occupation
10 July – 31 October
The Battle of Britain
In July Hitler sent his Luftwaffe to destroy British ports and to test the resources and reaction time of the Royal Air Force.
In August, while still bombing the ports and shipping, the focus shifted to the airfields of Britain.
From 7 Sep heavy bombing raids began on Britain’s cities to try to crush the morale of the population.
When that failed Hitler switched to night bombing raids.
Throughout it all the Royal Air Force stood firm. ‘Our finest hour’.
22 September
Tripartite Pact - signed by Germany, Italy and Japan
Dec
British Forces led by General Wavell defeated the Italians in North Africa
1941
6 April
Italy and Germany attacked Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete. German Field Marshall Rommel counter attacked in North Africa.
22 Jun
Despite having signed a treaty in 1939 Hitler sent 3 million soldiers and 3,500 tanks into Russia taking the Russians by surprise. Stalin immediately signed a ‘mutual assistance’ treaty with Britain. The USA offered a similar ‘Lend Lease’ agreement that it had with Britain to provide arms. The Eastern front opened up. It would claim over 20 million casualties.
7 Dec
The Japanese, already fighting the Chinese, attacked the US fleet as it lay at anchor in Pearl Harbour.
8 Dec
Britain and USA declared war on Japan.
1942
Feb
The Japanese forces capture Singapore from the British taking approximately 60,000 prisoners.
5 May
Operation Ironclad. The Battle of Madagascar. It was feared that the Vichy regime in France would allow the Japanese access to Madagascar and from there Malaya and Singapore. A pre-emptive invasion was therefore launched by the British.
30 May
The first of ‘Bomber’ Harris’ 1,000 aircraft in the skies raids took place over Cologne.
1 Jun
Harris’ second raid took place over the Ruhr valley.
4-7 June
Battle of the Midway. The USA defeated the Japanese navy and began to push them back.
25 Jun
The third of Harris’ controversial bombing raids took place over Bremen.
Aug
Churchill ordered General Alexander to consider the destruction of the German/Italian army in Egypt and Libya commanded by Field Marshal Rommell as his top priority. As soon as the resources were in place Alexander handed the campaign to General Montgomery.
23 Aug
Hitler launched his campaign to take control of Stalingrad. By October most of the city was under German control. However, the Russians had held onto areas along the Volgas banks aloowing them to maintain supply routes. On 23 November the Russians attacked and encircled the 6th Army. The 6th managed to hold out until February 1943 when they surrendered. It is thought to have been the bloodiest of World War II with between 1.8 – 2 million people killed, wounded or captured.
23 Oct
Battle of El Alamein. Montgomery successfully attacked the German/Italian army in North Africa subsequently giving chase across 1,500 miles of desert.
Nov
Under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower British and American forces gain control of French Morocco and Algeria.
1943
12 May
The Axis Forces were finally defeated in North Africa.
16/17 May
Operation Chastise - Dambusters Raid
Wing Commander Guy Gibson led 617 Sqn of the Royal Air Force on a daring raid to breach three dams in the industrial Ruhr valley. The Mohne , Eder and Sorpe Dams, would be attacked using the now famous ‘bouncing bomb’ developed by Barnes Wallis.
19 Lancasters took off with a total of 133 crew. Mohne was breached just after midnight with the Eder collapsing at 0152hrs. The Sorpe remained intact.
53 aircrew were killed with 3 being captured. On the ground almost 1,300 were killed due to the flooding
9 Jul
Operation Husky - The Allies invaded Sicily
17 Aug
Sicily is liberated.
3 Sep
Italy surrendered. Mussolini had been thrown out of office and the new government surrendered to the British and USA agreeing to join the Allies.
28 Nov
Allies meet at Tehran. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met to discuss plans to defeat Germany. Churchill mistrusted Stalin. Roosevelt, anxious to show that the west would not stand against Russia went along with Stalin’s wishes for a second front to be opened in France.
1944
Jan
The siege of Leningrad was lifted
Jun
Rome was liberated. Although Italy had surrendered in 1943 it took until Jun for the allies to liberate Rome from the Germans.
6 Jun
Operation Overlord – D-Day
The Allies under the command of General Eisenhower launched an attack on the German forces at the beaches of Normandy. For months prior to the invasion the Germans had been fed misinformation as to the focus of the landings. Amassed at Calais when the Allies landed on the beaches codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword the Germans rushed to the area but could not prevent a solid beachhead being established. The liberation of Europe had begun.
July
Japanese evicted from Burma. British Forces under General Sim, with the aid of guerrilla fighting Chindits led by Orde Wingate succeed in winning back Burma from the Japanese forces.
25 Aug
The liberation of Paris
8 Sep
The first V2 flying bombs are seen in the skies over London.
16 Dec
The Battle of the Bulge was the last German offensive on the Western Front. It raged around the Ardennes forest region of Belgium and Luxembourg and initially the Germans were successful pushing westward through the middle of the American line creating the bulge that gave the battle it’s name. The success was short-lived however as the inexperienced and battle weary troops were soon reinforced and the Germans pushed back. By 25 January 1945 the Allies could once again push forward into the German heartland.
1945
23-27 Mar
Operation Plunder - The Allies crossed the Rhine while Soviet forces approached Berlin from the east.
12 Apr
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. He was succeeded by the vice President Harry S Truman.
15-23 April
The Battle for Berlin. Russians began bombarding Berlin in their anxious haste to reach the city before the American forces.
28 Apr
Italian partisans captured Mussolini and executed him.
30 Apr
Adolph Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun, who he had just married, committed suicide in Hitler’s bomb-proof bunker.
2 May
German forces in Italy surrendered to the Allies.
4 May
German forces in north-west Germany, Holland and Denmark surrendered to Field Marshal Montgomery on Luneberg Heath. Admiral Donitz, Hitler’s nominated successor tried to negotiate a surrender to the Western Allies while continuing to fight the Russians. His request was denied.
7 May
Admiral Donitz offered an unconditional surrender to the Allies.
8 May
Victory in Europe was announced
5 July
Churchill lost the General Election. The Labour party win won with a vote of 393 to the Conservatives 213. It is generally accepted that this was because, having come through the war, the population did not wish to return to the pre-war general conditions.
6 Aug
Japan refused to surrender. USA drops the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
8 Aug
Russia declared war on Japan.
9 Aug
Having not received a request for surrender the USA drops a second atomic bomb, this time on the city of Nagasaki.
14 Aug
Japan surrendered to the Allied forces.
2 Sep
General McArthur formally accepted the Japanese unconditional surrender thus ending the Second World War.
