In this episode, we bring you four stories that span two hundred years of British history. Two women leave their families to make a new life together in Wales in 1780, a Manchester drag ball in 1880, a secret gathering space for gay men in 1920s London, and a community archive collected by Black LGBTQ+ Londoners.

For a transcript and information about the documents used in this episode visit our show notes: https://bit.ly/TNALGBTQ1

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On Tuesday, May 8th, 1945, the Allies who had been fighting the Second World War formally accepted Germany’s unconditional surrender. May 8th became known as Victory in Europe Day, or VE Day, and is still marked every year.

In this episode, host Chloe Lee is joined by Will Butler, a specialist in British society during the First and Second World Wars, to explore what that first VE Day was like, from the soldiers and medics who’d been at the frontline, to the folks at home who wanted peace — and for butter to be easily available again in British towns and cities.

In our next episode, we explore what Victory in Europe Day (or VE Day) was like, from the soldiers and medics who’d been at the frontline, to the folks at home who wanted peace — and for butter to be easily available again in British towns and cities.