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OFFICIAL PROGRAMME of the VICTORY CELEBRATIONS

8th June 1946 - in London, England, Part 1 of 2


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Front Cover (click for enlargement)

on to Part 2
or return to World War 2, 1939-1945

 
 

 

You can either click on links from the Contents following or wander through.






...... a fascinating summary of British military and economic power, as well as organisational abilities at the end of World War 2 and just before the rapid decline of the British Empire

...... the programme is taken from the original Programme, price twopence (0.8p!); the photographs from "The War Illustrated" edited by Sir John Hammerton and published weekly during the war at sixpence (2.5p).



 

Programme Contents

 

His Majesty's Procession
Chiefs of Staffs Procession
March Past

 

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MECHANISED COLUMN

Commanders:
Allied
Royal Navy
Army
Air Force

Royal Navy
Royal Air Force
Civilian Services
Army

MARCHING COLUMN

Allied Forces
BRITISH EMPIRE:
Dominions
India & Burma
The Colonial Empire:
West Africa
East and Central Africa

followed by:
Aden
Bermuda
Ceylon
Cyprus
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Hong Kong
Malaya
West Indies
Malaya
West Indies
Fiji and Western Pacific
Mauritius
North Borneo, Brunei, Labuan and Sarawak
Palestine
St. Helena
Seychelles
South African High Commission Terrritories
Malta

Naval Forces, including Royal Navy
Civilian Services (first contingents)

 

PART 2

followed by:
Army
Civilian Services (second contingent)
Allied Air Forces &
Royal Air Force

 

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FLY-PAST

 

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Two of the Naval commanders in armoured cars driven by naval ratings - Admiral Sir John Cunningham (no relation to ABC), C-in-C Mediterranean and Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton

 

HIS MAJESTY’S PROCESSION

 

The King, accompanied by the Queen, the Princess Elizabeth and the Princess Margaret, will drive in a State Landau. The Royal Carriage will be escorted by a Captain’s Escort of the Household Cavalry with Standard

ROUTE

    a.m.
Buckingham Palace   10.10
Marble Arch   10.25
Oxford Street    
Charing Cross Road   10.35
Northumberland Avenue   10.40
Bridge Street   10.46
Whitehall    
The Mall (Saluting Base)   10.57

 

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CHIEFS OF STAFF'S PROCESSION


The Chiefs of Staff at VE Day and VJ Day, together with the Supreme Allied Commanders, will precede the Mechanised Column, leaving the Clarence Gate in Regent's Park at 9.15 a.m. and arriving at the Saluting Base at 10.20 a.m.     left - British Chiefs of Staff - Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham ("ABC" of Mediterranean Fleet fame and now First Sea Lord), Field Marshall Viscount Alanbrooke, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Viscount Portal

 

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MARCH PAST

The Mechanised and Marching Columns will follow the routes given below, joining at Parliament Square and passing together up Whitehall, the Mechanised Column leading. Between the arrival of His Majesty at the Saluting Base and the commencement of the March Past, the Massed Pipers of Scottish and Irish Regiments will march and counter-march in the Mall. The head of the joint Column will pass the Saluting Base at 11.20 a.m. At the conclusion of the March Past, Squadrons of the Royal Air Force, together with Squadrons of the Naval Air Arm, will fly past the Base.     left - HM King George VI at the saluting base in The Mall leading down to Buckingham Palace from Admiralty Arch. He is accompanied by Queen Elizabeth - the Queen Mother who died recently, in 2002.

King George wears Royal Navy uniform as the senior British armed service.


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MECHANISED COLUMN

 

ROUTE

    a.m.
Regent’s Park (Clarence Gate)   9.18
Park Square West    
Marylebone Road    
Euston Road   9.28
Pentonville Road    
City Road    
Old Street   9.45
Hackney Road    
Cambridge Heath Road    
Whitechapel Road   10.04
Whitechapel High Street    
Aldgate High Street    
Mansell Street   10.11
Royal Mint Street    
Shorter Street    
Tower Hill   10.14
Eastcheap    
King William Street    
London Bridge   10.19
Borough High Street    
Newington Causeway    
Newington Butts   10.31
Kennington Park Road    
Harleyford Road    
Upper Kennington Lane    
Vauxhall Bridge   10.43
Millbank    
Abingdon Street    
Parliament Square   10.52
Whitehall    
Admiralty Arch    
The Mall (Saluting Base)   11.20
Constitution Hill    
Hyde Park Corner   11.26
Hamilton Place    
Park Lane    
Edgware Road    
Marylebone Road    
Regent’s Park   11.50


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ORDER OF MARCH

COMMANDERS:

Police Motor Cycle Patrols
ALLIED

Despatch Riders of the Royal Navy
ROYAL NAVY

Despatch Riders of the Army
ARMY

Despatch Riders of the Royal Air Force
AIR FORCE

Despatch Riders of the National Fire Service



left - Two of the Allied Supreme Commanders - Field Marshall Viscount Alexander of Tunis, C-in-C Mediterranean and Admiral Mountbatten, C-in-C, South East Asia Command


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ROYAL NAVY
Amphibious Jeeps
Weasels
DUKW's
Mobile Wireless Telegraphy Units
Aircraft Refuellers
Mobile Sick Bays


left - Mechanized units of the Royal Navy, with two DUKW's leading, passing through Parliament Square with the House of Lords tower in the background

 

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ROYAL AIR FORCE
Reconnaissance Cars
Light Ambulance - Special Ambulance
Radar Vehicle
Despatch Rider Letter Service Van – Signals Van
Recruiting Van - Pre-heater Van
Freighter – Aircraft Refueller mounted on 10-ton Tender
Fire Tenders
Breakdown Tender - Fire Crash Tender
Dental Caravan towed by Air Traffic Control Towing Car
Mechanical Horse
Bomb Tenders (Loaded)
Cooking Tender - Mobile Canteen
Radar Vehicles
3-ton Tender with Propeller Transporter
Educational, and Vocational Training Van - OfficeTender
Parachute Drying Tender - Parachute Servicing Vehicle
Tipping Tender - Trucktor
Water Tender (1,000 Gallons) - Petrol Tender (1,000 Gallons)
Aircraft Transporter
Airfield Floodlight – Oxygen Plant
Landmark Beacon towed by 3-ton Tender - Aerial Lighthouse towed by 3-ton Tender
Mobile Workshop - Power Plant 20 K.V.A.
Radar Vehicles
Airborne Lifeboat on Aircraft Transporter
Light Tractor – 10-ton Truck carrying Elevator Truck
Mechanical Horses with Torpedo Carriers
Ammunition Carriers
Airfield Snowplough - Runway Sweeper
Radar Vehicles
Balloon Winch with Hydrogen Cylinders
Heavy Ambulance - Air Traffic Control
Air Passenger Coaches
Troop Carriers
Pantechnicon - Radar Vehicle
Petrol Tender (2,500 Gallons) - Aircraft Salvage Tender

 

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CIVILIAN SERVICES

POLICE
Patrol Cars
FIRE SERVICES
Control Vans
Turntable Ladders (100 ft.)
Turntable Ladders (60 ft.)
Enclosed Fire Pumps
Auxiliary Towing Vehicles with Trailer Pumps
Pump Escapes
Self-propelled Heavy Pump Units
Water Tenders
CIVIL DEFENCE SERVICES
Civil Defence Reserve Rescue Vehicles
Light Rescue Vehicles (London)
Heavy Rescue Vehicles (London)
Rescue Vehicles
Rescue and War Debris Cranes
Rescue and War Debris Tippers with Skips
Decontamination vehicles
(manned by Decontamination Squads and Gas Identification Officers)
American Gift Ambulances (Great Britain)
Ambulances
Mobile Canteens
Mobile Emergency Food Units
Blood Transfusion Vans
AGRICULTURE
Land Drainage Excavator
Farm Tractor and Binder
TRANSPORT SERVICES
London Buses
Provincial Buses
6-8-ton Articulated Vehicles
Cruiser Cranes
6-ton Mechanical Horses
Mechanised Transport Corps Cars
Insulated Meat Vans
PUBLIC UTILITIES
Mobile Coast Radio Station - Mobile Telegraph Office
Mobile Gas Compressor - Gas Lorry and Purging Machine Trailer
Standard Electricity Repair Units
Tractors with Trailer Mounting Electrically-Driven Water Pumps
GENERAL SERVICES

Y.M.C.A. Mobile Canteens
Church Army Mobile Canteens
Salvation Army Mobile Canteens
National Savings Vans

 

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ARMY

ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS
Comet Command Tank
Scout Cars
Armoured Cars
Chaffee (Light) Tanks
Cromwells
Comets
Churchills
Shermans
Crocodiles
Flails
Bridge Laying Tanks
ROYAL ARTILLERY
Jeep
Self-propelled 25-pdrs
Towed 25-pdrs
Towed 5.5-in. Guns
Towed 7.2-in. Howitzer
Self-propelled 17-pdrs
Towed 3.7-in Anti-Aircraft Guns
Bofors Guns
Searchlight Lorries
77-mm Howitzer (Air Transportable)
ROYAL ENGINEERS
Jeep
Armoured Vehicles, Royal Engineers
Centaur Dozers
Arks
Class I Angledozers on Trailers
Tournapuls (Super C) with 12-yard Scrapers
Motor Graders
Excavators RB19 with Face Shovel Equipment on Trailers towed by Matador Tractor
Bomb Disposal Lorries with Trepanning and Steaming Out Apparatus
Unicraft on Trailer
153-h.p. Diesel Tank Engines on Trailers
Survey Printing Lorries
ROYAL CORPS OF SIGNALS
Jeep
Cars drawing Signals Trailers
3-ton Wireless Lorries
3-ton Cable Laying Lorries
Command Vehicles
Half Tracks
Armoured Command Vehicles
Tractors drawing Signals Equipment Trailers
3-ton Lorries towing Beam Wireless Trailers
15-ton Cable Lorries
INFANTRY AND ARMY AIR CORPS AND SPECIAL FORCES

Half Tracks
M.M.G. Carriers
Universal Carriers
Windsor Carriers
Jeeps of the Special Air Service
Jeeps with Trailers (Air Transportable)
Jeeps of the Special Forces

ROYAL ARMY SERVICE CORPS
(including Royal Army Medical Corps)

Jeep
Jeeps with Trailers
Weasels
Troop Carrying Lorries
Water Lorries
Bulk Petrol Lorries
Machinery Lorries
3-ton Lorries towing Generator Trailers
10-ton Lorries towing Bakery Equipment Trailers
DUKW's
Folding Boat Equipments
Pontoon Lorries
Matador Tractors towing Pontoon Trailers
Diamond "T" Tank Transporters carrying LVT's
Armoured Personnel Carriers
Stretcher Ambulances
ROYAL ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS (including Army Film and Photographic Unit)
Jeep
Binned Stores Trailer and Boot Repair Trailer
Mobile Crane and Breakdown Lorry
Water Trucks
Mobile Oxygen Plant and Mobile Inert Gas Plant
Clothing Repair Trailer and Mobile Laundry Boiler Trailer
Mobile Acetylene Plants
Mobile Laundry Washing Machine Trailers
Boot Repair Plants (Air Transportable)
Jeeps of the Army Film and Photographic Unit
WAR CORRESPONDENTS
Jeeps
NAVY ARMY AND AIR FORCE INSTITUTES AND FIRST AID NURSING YEOMANRY
Mobile Canteens
ROYAL ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS
Jeep
20-ton Tank Transporters carrying Crawler Tractors
Heavy Breakdown Tractors
3-ton Machinery Lorries
Jeeps
40-ton Tank Transporter carrying Cromwell
Armoured Recovery Vehicles
Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicles
ARMY FIRE SERVICES
Fire Tender Lorries towing Trailer Fire Pumps
Fire Engines

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MARCHING COLUMN

ROUTE

    a.m.
Marble Arch   10.35
Oxford Street   10.45
Charing Cross Road   10.58
Trafalgar Square   11.08
Northumberland Avenue   11.11
Embankment   11.16
Parliament Square   11.25
Halt    
Whitehall   11.55
    p.m.
The Mall (Saluting Base)   12.01
Constitution Hill   12.05
Hyde Park Corner   12.13

 

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ORDER OF MARCH

ALLIED FORCES

Bands
(the "Big 5" less Great Britain)
United States of America
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
China
France

Belgium
Brazil
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
Egypt
Ethiopia
Greece
Iran
Iraq

Luxembourg
Mexico
Nepal
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Transjordan
Yugoslavia



  left - Representatives of the Greek armed forces, including the Royal Hellenic Navy which played a valuable part in the Mediterranean. Escorting the Greek colours are two Evzones in their traditional white kilts

 



ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN
BRITISH EMPIRE

DOMINIONS

Bands
Canada
Commonwealth of Australia
New Zealand
Union of South Africa
Southern Rhodesia

Newfoundland

left - Southern Rhodesian (now Zimbabwe) forces passing the saluting base "eyes left". In the middle distance,left to right are Mr Atlee, Prime Minister, Mr Churchill, Mr Mackenzie King, PM of Canada and Field Marshal Smuts, PM of South Africa

 

INDIA
Royal Indian Navy
Indian Armoured Corps
Royal Indian Artillery
Royal Indian Engineers
Indian Signal Corps
Band of Royal Garhwal Rifles
Indian Infantry
Gurkha Rifles
Indian State Forces
Royal Indian Air Force
BURMA
Burma Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Burma Army
Burma Volunteer Air Force


left - Indian forces passing under Admiralty Arch and down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace at the far end. This long column is just a small fraction of the whole vast parade comprising a total of 21,000 men and women of the fighting, auxiliary and civilian services - Allied, British Empire and United Kingdom

 

THE COLONIAL EMPIRE

WEST AFRICA
Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, Gambia

Royal West African Frontier Force
West African Artillery
West African Engineers
West African Signals
West African Army Service Corps
West African Medical Corps
West African Ordnance Corps
West African Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Corps of West African Military Police
West African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps
EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA
Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia, Zanzibar, British Somaliland

Kenya Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Tanganyika Naval Volunteer Force
East Africa Reconnaissance Regiment
East Africa Armoured Car Regiment
King's African Rifles
Northern Rhodesia Regiment
Somaliland Scouts
East Africa Artillery
East Africa Engineers
East Africa Corps of' Signals
East Africa Chaplains Department
East Africa Army Service Corps
East Africa Army Medical Corps
East Africa Army Ordnance Corps
East Africa Army Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
East Africa Army Educational Corps
East Africa Military Police
East Africa Army Pioneer Corps
East Africa Army Labour Service
The Kenya Regiment
East Africa Military Nursing Service
Women's Territorial Service
Kenya Police
Tanganyika Police
Uganda Police
ADEN
Aden Protectorate Levies
BERMUDA
Bermuda Militia Artillery
Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps
Bermuda Volunteer Engineers
CEYLON now Sri Lanka

Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal Artillery
Royal Engineers
Royal Army Service Corps
Ceylon Garrison Artillery
Ceylon Engineers
Ceylon Light Infantry
Ceylon Signal Corps
Ceylon Army Service Corps
Ceylon Medical Corps
Ceylon Railway Engineer Corps
Ceylon Corps of Military Police
Ceylon Electrical and Mechanical Corps
Ceylon Pioneers
Auxiliary Territorial Service
CYPRUS
Cyprus Regiment
Cyprus Volunteer Force
Royal Air Force
FALKLAND ISLANDS
Falklands Islands Defence Force
GIBRALTAR
Gibraltar Defence Force
HONG KONG
Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps
Hong Kong Volunteer Company
Hong Kong Pioneer Company
Civilian Services
MALAYA
Royal Navy
Malay Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal Artillery
Royal Engineers
Royal Corps of Signals
Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
Royal Army Service Corps
Malay Regiment
Straits Settlements Volunteer Force
Federated Malay States Volunteer Force
Johore Military Forces
Kedah Volunteer Force
Kelantan Volunteer Force
Johore Volunteer Force
Royal Air Force
Malay Volunteer Air Force
Local Defence Corps
Police and Guerilla Forces
Civilian Services
WEST INDIES
Bahamas, Barbados, British Guiana, British Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Windward Islands

West Indian Detachment
Royal Air Force
FIJI AND WESTERN PACIFIC
Fiji Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Fiji Infantry Regiment
Fiji Medical Corps
Tonga Defence Force
British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force
Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony Defence Force
MAURITIUS
Mauritius Pioneer Corps
Mauritius Women's Volunteer Corps
NORTH BORNEO, BRUNEI, LABUAN AND SARAWAK
Police and Guerilla Forces
PALESTINE
Trans-Jordan Frontier Force
Palestine Regiment
Palestine Police
ST. HELENA
St. Helena Regiment
Merchant Navy
SEYCHELLES
Seychelles Pioneer Corps
SOUTH AFRICAN HIGH COMMISSION TERRITORIES
Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Swaziland

South African High Commission Territories Corps
MALTA
Royal Navy
Royal Malta Artillery
Royal Engineers
Corps of Signals
King's Own Malta Regiment
Army Service Corps
Army Medical Corps
Army Ordnance Corps
Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Army Pay Corps
Malta Pioneer Group
Royal Air Force
Malta Police
Civilian Services

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NAVAL FORCES

ROYAL NAVY
Seamen
Engine Room Department
Band
Miscellaneous Branches and Reserves
Royal Marines
Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service and V.A.D’s
Women’s Royal Naval Service
Civilian

MERCHANT NAVY

FISHING FLEETS

LIGHTHOUSE SERVICES

COASTGUARDS

PILOTS

ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION

 

left - Royal Navy units passing through Admiralty Arch - seaman and stokers under the arch itself, Royal Marine band following, and behind them (nearest camera) miscellaneous branches and the Reserves.

Trafalgar Square, appropriately with Nelson's column, and out of view to the right is one mass of people, with those attempting to see the parade standing 40-50 deep

 

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CIVILIAN SERVICES (FIRST CONTINGENTS)

POLICE
Metropolitan Police Central Band
Civil Police
Admiralty Civil Police
War Department Constabulary
Air Ministry Constabulary
Railway and Docks Police
FIRE SERVICE
National fire service
Salvage Corps
CIVIL DEFENCE SERVICE (FIRST PART)
Rescue Dog Handlers and Dogs
Civil Defence Reserve
Wardens
Rescue Service
Report and Control Service
CIVIL DEFENCE SERVICES (SECOND PART)
American Gift Ambulances (Great Britain)
Ambulance Service
First Aid Posts
Civil Nursing Reserve
Nurses in Voluntary and Public Hospitals
Midwives and District Nurses
War-time Nurseries
Lay Staffs of Hospitals
Medical Auxiliaries
NURSING SERVICES
Joint War Organisation of British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John of Jerusalem
St. Andrew’s Ambulance Association
WOMEN'S VOLUNTARY SERVICES

AGRICULTURE
Women’s Land Army and Timber Corps
Farm Workers

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on to Part 2
or return to World War 2, 1939-1945

revised  5/12/10