This is my granddad, Christian Sofus Brinch Madsen, who sadly passed away just weeks before I was born. I have heard many things about who and how he was from my mum.

Today it is 75 years since the “end” of the second world war. I put end in “” because there was still fighting and loss of life for a while yet after the 8 of May 1945, so the war wasn’t really over, but this is by-the-by for today’s story.

My granddad had to flee Denmark because he had joined the resistance. Lucky a neighbour warned him before the occupying forces arrived to take him away.

He then joined the Danish Brigade in Sweden and for a while after the liberation of Denmark he was a prison guard for the local prison camp.

He also walked the prisoner down to Frøslev Prison Camp, in the southern part of Denmark, a 275km walk, before they got sent home. Even if he was chased out of his home country by soldiers from another country. He was still good and kind to them when he was their guard.

Because they gave him this carving, made out of a part of a wing of an aeroplane . Hvorup Plantage, is where the local prison camp was. As a thank you when they parted ways in November 1946.

I’m struggling today in seeing that kindness, goodness, friendship in people here in the UK. Especially since we have had a turn to the right and fascism since the referendum in 2016. There are some Union Jack about but mostly it is the St George flag.

In the UK it is “we won” were elsewhere in Europe it is remembrance. Like in Denmark we put a lit candle in the window.

Honestly I’m glad that the pubs are closed today because of Covid-19, because I just know we would have had to endure a steady flow of drunken numpties who would be going on and on about – “two world wars and a world cup”.

To the people who died, suffered and fought in the Second World War, thank you. I might not have fully understood what you were fighting for before, but now it has truly hit me squarely in face and I understand now how important your sacrifice was.

Lest we forget

Here’s a soundscapes from the “celebration” in a local town.