Author, born 1954
From the point of view of a kid it seemed a very heroic and exciting time. At our house in Bromley to this day we have an air raid shelter that I used to play in. From the stories we heard there was a feeling that we'd missed out - the 1960s were yet to come. When it came to dealing with mass immigration in the 50s and 60s there was a huge awareness, particularly among young people, about the war, specifically Nazism and what it means to try and eliminate a race. That's one of the most important legacies, the awareness of where extreme racism can lead.
Broadcaster, born 1955
I was very aware that the second world war must have been something huge because it was never discussed. My journalist self would want to ask my father what it was like seeing his comrades blown up in front of his face but you would never ask that - it would seem prying, unseemly and disrespectful. "Make do and mend" was how I was raised, and I still do ridiculous things like save bits of string and keep wrapping paper - like my mother. Yet, and this is one of the bizarre contradictions in my life, I will think nothing of spending a lot of money on a pair of shoes.
Actor, born 1953
I remember thinking that we were the greatest country in the world because we won the war. But when I was about 13 I realised that was absolutely bollocks. Britain in the early 60s was a shithole. The Blitz spirit has been so eradicated from the fabric of our society, the nearest people come to it is off their head on ketamine at Glastonbury. It's tragic. Without a shadow of a doubt some of that wartime spirit has to come back and I think we need to find a new word for it. If it doesn't happen we're in big trouble.
Author, born 1950
I was conscious of a sense of luck to be growing up in peacetime since my parents' generation had been through much more difficult times. But it also left a sense of fear: there was always school playground nonsense of "the world is going to end this Friday at midday" and a bit of me believed that was possible. I was 12 when the Cuban missile crisis happened and I had an immense sense of looming catastrophe about that so you could say that the war was still overshadowing things. After the war there was a feeling of not going to go back to the world of the 30s - that it was not just about fighting Hitler and defeating Nazism, but about changing our country and making it a more equal society.
Designer and activist, born 1947
I wish the war had changed society but we're the nation that won the war and lost the peace: after the incredible privations that our parents suffered we were all overindulged and turned into yuppies. We haven't looked after our heritage very well and we've allowed people like Thatcher and Blair into power. We're so driven by comfort that we're not even aware of the rivers of blood that got us here.