VE Day crowns the most inspiring chapter in the long and proud story of these islands

The flames of national pride are burning high across Britain. In this remarkable week of commemorations for the 80th anniversary of our Victory in Europe, reverence for our heroic past has stirred the soul of the nation. The wartime generations who achieved the defeat of tyranny deserve all the praise they are now receiving, for together they wrote the most inspiring chapter in our island story. Built on determination, resilience and solidarity, theirs was a truly collective effort that embraced everyone from the Land Girls, growing vital crops, to the bomber pilots inflicting devastation on the Nazi war machine.

Winston Churchill himself proclaimed: "It was a nation and race dwelling all round the globe that had the lion heart. I had the luck to be called upon to give the roar." Without the bravery of ordinary British citizens as well as the members of the armed forces, the course of global history would have been very different.

Ours was the only country that fought Germany from the very beginning of the conflict to its close. That is why it is so important that we honour the memory of all those who battled so tenaciously in defence of our freedom. The debt that we owe them is incalculable, just as our respect for their sacrifices should be unbounded.

Today it is exactly eight decades since the German High Command surrendered to the Allies. This special milestone has given a unique resonance to the week's VE celebrations, which reach their climax tonight at 9.30pm with the lighting of more than a thousand beacons throughout our land, accompanied by the public and 750 choirs singing the great patriotic hymn, I Vow To Thee My Country, Composed by Gustav Holtz, with lyrics by the diplomat Sir Cecil Spring Rice.

Cheering on the communal rendition of this cherished anthem, 95-year old Chelsea pensioner Colin Thackery, who served in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War, urges people to lend their voices and "so make this a truly unforgettable occasion".

Other parts of today's VE 80th anniversary promise to be equally memorable, like the haunting melodies of the bagpipes echoing from venues throughout Scotland at noon or the vigorous ringing of church and cathedral bells from 6.30pm. Another initiative on a grand scale is the attempt to create the world's largest mosaic by using individual photos taken by members of the public to build a vast image of Winston Churchill. There is also a plethora of local events like street parties and tea dances, filled with evocative sounds and images of the 1940s.

Throughout the afternoon, the heart-tugging voice of Vera Lynn will waft through homes and neighbourhoods just as it did more than 80 years ago, full of love for England and yearning for peace. That profound devotion to country shines through the striking move this week to illuminate 83 public buildings, landmarks and attractions - among them Blackpool Tower and Cardiff Castle - in the red, white and blue of the Union Jack.

Indeed, the 80th anniversary has unleashed a wave of inspirational patriotism that serves as an antidote to the tiresome woke ideology which denigrates our national identity and paints our history as nothing more than a narrative of imperialist, racist oppression. The progressive zealots, filled with loathing for our past, could not be more wrong. By helping to defeat Nazism, and end the Holocaust, Britain had a central role in the most important humanitarian mission known to mankind.

There is nothing intrinsically reactionary or cruel about patriotism.

On the contrary, like love of family, it is a noble ideal that promotes unity and self-sacrifice for the wider good, exactly the spirit that prevailed during the war. It is woke dogma, with all its baggage about identity politics, invented grievances and racial fixations, that fuels divisions. The Labour Party, of course, are the high priests of doctrinaire political correctness, but even their chiefs seem to have been - at least temporarily - caught up in a mood of pro-Britishness.

Sir Keir Starmer was more animated than usual as he hosted a street party in Downing Street on Monday, while there was a touching moment when Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary often seen with a vinegary scowl on her face, reached out to hold the hand of a veteran and provide him with some warmth as they sat together in a cold, exposed grandstand during the military ceremonies.

This week's VE events have already shown the best of traditional British values. There is no nation on earth that does pomp, pageantry and precision like we do, and those qualities were on full display in the military procession through central London on Monday by 1,300 troops and in the fly past by the Red Arrows.

When so many of our state-run services are plagued by low productivity, excessive sick leave, self-indulgent clock-watching or trade union discontent, it is refreshing to see a group of public employees who just get on with their duties to the best of their abilities. Listening to the veterans' extraordinary tales of almost being killed in action, it was impossible not to contrast their tough, stoical resilience with the institutionalised helplessness of so many staffers and students nowadays, who have created a burgeoning mental health crisis with their unceasing complaints about anxiety, depression and stress.

The sight of the mighty Avro Lancaster flying over Buckingham Palace at Monday's commemoration was a reminder not just of the plane's lethality in combat but also of the extreme dangers RAF bomber crews faced as they undertook their long sorties at night over Germany. Incredibly, of the 125,000 men who served in Bomber Command, 44% were killed in action, yet less than one per cent were ever accused of "lack of moral fibre", the term used about those who tried to avoid flying. In all three services, there was a tremendous sense of perseverance even in the face of fear.

Duty also infused the Royal Family this week, making Prince Harry's noisy whingeing about security even more risible. Despite suffering from cancer, the King stood for more than half-an-hour in blustery conditions to take the salute of the marching troops. Events like this also reinforce the continuity and strength of our Royal institutions, a point highlighted by the assured diplomatic role that Prince George played in engaging with veterans at a tea party in Buckingham Palace. "I was very impressed with the lad's interest. He was very polite," said ex-merchant seaman Doug Hyde.

Just as the VE anniversary has revived the nation's integrity after a battering from woke ideology, so this celebration has been a shot of adrenalin to the Royals after all their recent health problems, in addition to the scandal of Prince Andrew and the dark, destructive manoeuvres of the Sussexes.

But the event also emphasised how badly we miss the late Queen and Prince Phillip, both of them fixtures in our public life for so long. Their absence added to deep poignancy of this week, with our sense of loss compounded by the fraying of our relationship with the US, our closest military ally since the end of the Second World War, just as the world appears to be becoming an ever more dangerous place.

Yet poignancy is an inevitable part of any process of remembrance. After his visit to Buckingham Palace, former code-breaker Bernard Morgan said: "Whenever I go to an event like this, I always think about my comrades who did not come home and especially three airmen we lost in Normandy. We are the lucky ones."

And we were the lucky nation to have had men and women like that.