The first VE Day parade in London in 1946.
Out of the 35 million servicemen captured worldwide during the devastation of World War II, at least 14,583 were South Africans. Mostly taken during the grueling North African campaigns, these men transitioned from frontline combatants to captives in dreadful overseas prisoner-of-war camps. Decades later, their grueling ordeals and quiet heroism are finally stepping into the spotlight.
On Sunday, 31 May 2026, the South African Legion (Cape Town Branch) will host a special Memorial Service at the Military Museum at the Castle. This year’s solemn event shifts the focus to these long-overlooked POWs, building on last year's tribute to the nation’s unsung non-combatant volunteers, women auxiliary forces, and teenage enlistees.
Four trumpeters from SACS on the 80th VE Day commemoration at the Castle on 10 May 2025.
"The importance of continuing to mark the anniversary of this global event that had such a profound effect on modern history is to remind us of the horrors of war and to value the sanctity of peace, lest we forget the former," said Kevin P. Ashton JCD, Chairman of the SA Legion's Cape Town Branch.
