Today marked the anniversary of the end of the second world war in Europe – VE Day. On this day, eighty years on, I pause to remember my mother, then Frances Spacie, a young A.T.S. (Auxiliary Territorial Service} private, serving at one time in Anti Aircraft, She would stand, binoculars in position with the gunner, ready to spot enemy planes including the dreaded Doodlebug. I recall her saying that at those times she most missed her beloved dog and family at home and this centres my thoughts on the countless animals killed in the war .

Animals who worked for the sevices in wartime had no choice whether or not they gave their lives for us. It may be that they performed heroic acts but this was likely to be out of love for the human comrades they had become close to. Pigeons, too, were sent into enemy territory carrying vital messages. If they were heroes, why are they now referred to as vermin and driven from our town and city centres?

Many a family cat or dog didn;t serve in the war but lost their lives in the bombing blitzes, while countless wild animals must have been obliterated.

Thankfully, it is no longer thought by the majority that women and animals have no souls and in recent years the women and animals who gave their services in wartime are being respectfully recognised for the dangers they faced. However, as VE day is celebrated, let us learn from our mistakes of centuries. We are rightly mortified by so many torturous human deaths in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere on our planet yet the suffering of the animals in these regions yet again seems of little importance to many. We could say “Why should it?” when we pay for animals to be brutally farmed and killed in the slaughterhouses of the world every day of our lives in peacetime. Look around at our world today and remember the signs of the past. Are we to go round and round in this endless cycle of war?

I am proud of my mother for she did willingly what she thought was right and necessary to help bring us the freedom we have today but that does not mean I agree with war. However, one thing is certain: Peace begins on our plate. When that happens fully there will be no wars.