RAF veteran, 99, will remember friends ‘who didn’t make it’ on VE Day

A 99-year-old RAF veteran said he will be remembering friends “who didn’t make it like I did” through the Second World War on VE Day.

Dennis Bishop, a former leading aircraftsman who saw active service in France, Belgium, Germany and Africa, visited RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Wednesday as it prepares for the VE Day flypast on Monday.

Mr Bishop was presented with gifts by the crew of an Airbus A400M Atlas military transport aircraft – one of several contemporary aircraft flying in formation with their Second World War predecessors in the flypast.

Speaking at the loading ramp of the aircraft, Mr Bishop told the PA news agency: “There should be VE Days for other countries, and they should all start getting together and not beating each other, but coming together.

“For me, it’s important to remember some of the poor devils who didn’t make it like I did, because there are two or three old friends of mine that didn’t make it.”

Modern RAF aircraft, pilots and crew are preparing at RAF Brize Norton ahead of the VE Day 80 flypast on May 5.

Discussing his visit to the RAF base, Mr Bishop, who is 100 in August, said: “I didn’t know this was going to happen, but a very good friend of mine secretly organised it for me.

“I’m absolutely overwhelmed with all of this, because although I’m nearly 100, it’s gradually fading away now, but this has brought it all back to me again now.”

Nicola Lofthouse, Officer Commanding 99 Squadron, said a “huge amount of planning” had gone into pulling together all the aircraft.

She told the PA news agency: “There’s 27 aircraft that are going to be flying down the Mall on Monday, for example, over Buckingham Palace.

“They form up over the North Sea, and then they fly direct, straight over London, timed to be there.

“So every aircraft must be there within plus or minus five seconds of their timing.”

Ms Lofthouse said the aircraft would be flying at 270 knots over the Mall, which is about 310 miles an hour.

The commander added that VE Day was important to “remember the sacrifice of those who have gone before us to buy us the freedom that we enjoy today”.

Ms Lofthouse added: “It’s also to remember the history and to make sure that we don’t repeat some of the mistakes of the past.

“And it means so much to the serving people to feel appreciated by the public, the British public in particular, and the world in fact, who will be watching in terms of the fact that they’re away from their families a lot.”

Victory in Europe Day, known as VE Day, is celebrated on May 8 each year to mark the day the Allies formally accepted Germany’s surrender in 1945.