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Massive demonstrations spontaeously appeared in London. It was the British definance of Hitler that played a major role in his defeat. Their defiance of the Blitz stopped Hitler's string of victories cold. The celebration took place in the very city that had first successfully defied Hitler and who Churchill called the Huns. Substantial areas of the city were still mounds of rubble. The British people and Londoner in particular had earned this day which was long in coming. More than one million people poured out into the streets of London to mark the NAZI surrender and the end of the War. The celebrations began even before the official day of celebration on May 8. There was a carnival amosphere to the celebration which was celebrated by Londoners of all ages. But this was their day. Londoners massed in Trafalgar Square and up the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Here King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the palace before the cheering crowds. In fact they appeared eight times to make sure that everyone in the flowing crowd could see them. Churchill later gave an impromptu speech on the balcony of the Ministry of Health, telling the crowds, Churchill told the cheering crowds, "My dear friends, this is YOUR hour. This is not victory of a party or of any class. It's a victory of the great British nation as a whole. We were the first, in this ancient island, to draw the sword against tyranny. After a while we were left all alone against the most tremendous military power that has been seen. We were all alone for a whole year. ..." (There are various versions of this probably said at different times he appeared on the balcony during the day.) The victory was as Churchil said, that of the British people, but most understood what a critical role he had played. One of the tragedies of the War is that President Roosevelt did not survive the War and could not make an appearance aftrwards on that balcony with Churchill and the King and Queen.
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