Falklands veteran despairs at shock polling on Gen Z and VE Day: 'We need to educate them!'

A veteran who fought in the Falklands War has expressed his disappointment in the number of Gen Z adults who do not know the origins of VE Day.

Speaking to GB News, Simon Weston reacted to shock new data, declaring young Britons "must be educated more" on wartime history.

The reaction follows a shocking new poll this week, which revealed just 34 per cent of Gen Z recognise the significance of the anniversary marking the end of World War 2 in Europe, which takes place on Friday, May 8.

New data from the Royal British Veterans Enterprise (RBVE) also found 63 per cent of UK adults do recognise its importance.

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Reacting to the findings, the RBVE said it reveals "a gap in public understanding of military service past and present".

Delivering his verdict on the polling, Mr Weston told GB News that some people are "resistant" to teaching the history of war to school pupils.

He said: "A lot of the reasons young people know nothing about what went on then and don't feel attached to any of it is because in some parts they aren't educated in schools.

"There are some people who are resistant to teaching that type of British history and British military history."

He called on young Britons to receive "more education" on the importance of the historic wars.

Mr Weston argued: "The fact that we were a liberating force then as we were in my conflict, it just means that we need to educate people more as to why the freedoms they enjoy today are because of other people's sacrifices yesterday.

"For everybody to enjoy the benefits of what we have today is because somebody did sacrifice so much."

Reflecting on the conflicts taking place around the world today, Mr Weston suggested the wars won't "make sense to a lot of young people".

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He explained: "We need to remember all of the sacrifices made, but it does get diluted by the amount of conflicts that are going on today, and there doesn't seem to be any good rhyme or reason for them.

"The Middle East seems crazy, Russia attacking Ukraine seems crazy, it doesn't make sense to a lot of young people. And a lot of young people are not influenced by the movies and Hollywood as we once were."

Mr Weston also argued there aren't as many war films put out by Hollywood anymore to educate those young people.

He told GB News: "There were a lot of glamorous entertainment films that were put out, and young people don't see that as much as they used to.

"So I think there's a lot of influence as to why young people aren't buying into it any longer."

Mr Weston also called on more contemporary conflicts to be honoured alongside the world wars on November 11.

He concluded: "They need to see more contemporary conflicts be honoured and remembered on November 11, because the veterans are very, very few now from the Second World War.

"And we've been involved in over 140 different conflicts since the end of the Second World War.

"We don't talk ever about Korea, it's almost like it's an embarrassment, and that was the first UN conflict. We should be discussing things like that."

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