Victory in Europe and Japan: 80th Anniversaries

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephanie Peacock]

My hon. Friend has outlined the huge impact that the war had. I said in my statement that my generation would be the last to grow up with family members and friends who fought or contributed; I remember on my first day at school, or certainly not long after I joined school, my first teacher talking about her experience during an air raid. That was really important to me growing up—it was part of my childhood that people talked about the second world war. That is not the case for today’s generation, which is why we have launched our “Letters to Loved Ones” initiative. That initiative encourages people to explore their family history—to look for letters and artefacts so that they can understand what life was like during wartime. We are encouraging people to share those letters and artefacts on our website, so that we can all learn from them.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

My father served on HMS Fearless, which was sunk, and although he survived, many of his comrades remain buried at sea. Will there be any initiative to address war graves at sea, given that there have been egregious examples of their being plundered for scrap and other things?

[Stephanie Peacock]

The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point about war graves at sea, and I would be very happy to meet him or write to him. I will certainly reach out to colleagues in the MOD to talk further about that issue.