Exeter’s wartime spirit remembered 80 years after VE Day

Exeter will mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day this May with two poignant events that honour the city’s wartime past and celebrate the resilience of its people.

Led by the city’s Red Coat Guides, the events are designed to help residents and visitors reflect on the devastation wrought by the Second World War and how Exeter rose from the rubble with courage, community spirit, and hope.

Exeter Blitz Red Coat Tour

Sunday 4 May 2025
11.15am & 3pm | Starting at the Devon War Memorial, Cathedral Green

Held on the anniversary of the 1942 Baedeker Raid, this walking tour retraces the path of destruction that tore through Exeter’s historic city centre. Participants will hear how air raids changed the face of the city forever, and how its people rallied through loss and hardship.

VE Day and After in Exeter – Red Coat Talk

Thursday 8 May 2025 | Exeter Guildhall
Hosted by Red Coat Guide Jon Bell | In aid of FORCE Cancer Charity

Set in the Guildhall, which survived the Blitz, this evening talk offers a vivid picture of the city’s reaction to Germany’s surrender on 8 May 1945. Crowds gathered in Cathedral Close to hear Churchill’s speech. Union Jack flags fluttered from shattered windows. Bonfires were lit in gardens and people danced in the streets.

Red Coat Guide Jon Bell will explore not just the celebration, but the rebuilding and renewal that followed—from thanksgiving services at the bomb-damaged Cathedral to street parties in Heavitree, and the unveiling of the “Exeter Phoenix” post-war plan.

By VE Day in 1945, Exeter was a city bruised but unbowed. The Baedeker Blitz had killed 265 people and destroyed 1,500 homes, yet its people came together in a shared spirit of joy and remembrance.

Local stories bring the day to life: neighbours in Exe Island pooling rations for a communal feast; a symbolic VE Day cake cut by a young Sheila Mairs in Heavitree; costumed parades through bomb-damaged streets honouring Allied nations.

Victory brought neither immediate prosperity nor full recovery, but it did ignite a deep and lasting hope. The legacy of those years lives on in the streets, buildings, and hearts of Exeter.

The 80th anniversary of VE Day offers Exeter a chance to remember not only the end of war in Europe but the extraordinary spirit of a city that endured, rebuilt, and moved forward.

As Red Coat Guide Jon Bell puts it: “The Blitz left scars, but VE Day reminded us that joy can bloom even in the darkest times. Exeter's resilience is something we still feel today.”