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Poll Finds Two-Thirds of Gen Z Unaware of VE Day
Colin Thackery, who served in the Royal Artillery during the Korean War and Malaya, spoke after a poll found two-thirds of Generation Z unaware of the day marking the end of World War Two in Europe. The 96-year-old veteran compared knowledge levels in Britain with those he observed during a visit to South Korea two years ago.
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A new poll has found that two-thirds of Generation Z are unaware of VE Day, the commemoration of the end of World War Two in Europe. Colin Thackery, a 96-year-old Chelsea Pensioner who served in the Royal Artillery seeing service in Malaya and the Korean War, described the findings as a shame. “It's a shame,” Mr Thackery said simply while speaking to GB News.
The veteran said it is a “shame” that the importance of VE Day appears to be fading among younger Britons. GB News reported that he made the comments after the poll results were released on May 6, 2026. Mr Thackery compared attitudes in Britain with what he witnessed when he visited South Korea two years ago.
He had not seen the place for 70 years before that trip. “I hadn't seen the place for 70 years, and it was extraordinary,” he recalled. The veteran recounted the child's words as he reflected on the contrast with knowledge levels among young people in Britain.
Thackery's own service took him to the Korean peninsula decades earlier. His return visit two years ago left a deep impression on how history is transmitted across generations in that country. The Chelsea Pensioner spoke with GB News on the day the poll findings were made public.
His remarks highlight differing levels of awareness about the conflict that shaped the modern map of the Korean peninsula and ended in Europe on VE Day.
