Second World War Veterans commemorated in service to mark 65th Anniversary of VJ Day

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 13/08/2010 19:17:17

A service to commemorate the 65th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) will take place at the Cenotaph this Sunday 15 August at 3pm, attended by TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, Prime Minister David Cameron, representatives of the three military Services, hundreds of veterans of the conflict and members of World War II associations.

The service will remember the efforts of hundreds of thousands of veterans operating in the harshest of conditions, and pay tribute to nearly 30,000 British losses suffered during the Far East campaign, some 12,500 who died while prisoners of war.

Prime Minister David Cameron who will lay a wreath on behalf of the Government, said:

"We must never forget the sacrifices made and the dedication showed by those who served our country in the Second World War. They fought and suffered around the world in ferocious conditions. They witnessed incomprehensible horrors. They lost their lives - and many were imprisoned. And they did all this for us - to protect the freedoms we all enjoy today. VJ Day, the day the Second World War ended, is a time for this generation to reflect and show its gratitude to our veterans for their bravery, dedication and sacrifice."

Chief of the General Staff General Sir David Richards, whose father fought at Imphal, will lay a wreath on behalf of the British Army. He said:

?'The Second World War in the Far East began with a series of defeats which rank among the grimmest memories of the British Army, and which caused many thousands of British and Commonwealth troops to suffer captivity in conditions we can scarcely comprehend. But in 1944 one of the greatest of all British commanders, the much-loved Bill Slim, effected an extraordinary resurrection. First at Imphal and Kohima, then in his 1945 drive back into Burma, he led Fourteenth Army's British, Indian and African soldiers to an historic victory. The achievement of Slim and his men, and the sacrifice of those who suffered and died for the allied cause in Asia, remains today one of the most honoured memories of the British Army.?

For the veterans of the campaign, the service is an opportunity to meet long-lost comrades and remember the thousands who did not make it back.

Mr John Nunneley MBE from Petersham, Surrey, fought in Burma against the Japanese following the battles of Imphal and Kohima, and is attending Sunday?s event. He said:

?On this 65th anniversary of Victory over Japan, survivors of that savage war, and the bereaved, pray for those who did not return.

?To them, lying rank upon rank in eternal comradeship in distant war cemeteries, or lonely in an unmarked grave, we renew our pledge; at the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember you.?

The service is being organised by the Ministry of Defence along with the Burma Star Association. After the event the veterans will be hosted at a special reception attended by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and the Prime Minister and military representatives.

Notes to editors:

A service will also be held at the National Memorial Arboretum, attended by veterans from the Malayan Volunteers Group, the Far East Prisoners of War Association, and members of the Children and Families of Far East Prisoners of War who partly funded a memorial building at the arboretum.

The Burma Star Association was founded in 1951 and brings together veterans from all three Services who experienced the bitter fighting in the jungles of Burma. Its first president was Field Marshal Lord Slim (Uncle Bill), and his son Viscount John Slim, current president of the association, will attend the service.

The Second World War in Asia began on 7 December 1941 with the Japanese bombing of the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and simultaneous attacks on British, Dutch and American possessions in the Far East.

The Fourteenth Army, known as the ?Forgotten Army?, was the largest British Empire and Commonwealth Army ever assembled, numbering over half a million men, and commanded by Lieutenant General Slim. 700,000 Indians took part in the Burma campaign between December 1941 and August 1945, 340,000 of them in the Fourteenth Army, and they outnumbered the forces from all other Allied nations combined. 100,000 men from Britain fought in Burma, as did 119,000 soldiers from her East and West African colonies. 51 Royal Air Force and Commonwealth squadrons flew in support of the land operations, and the Royal Navy, including Royal Marines, and the Royal Indian Navy provided vital assistance in the provision of landing craft, minesweeping, gunfire support and other duties.

Men and women from all over the British Empire and Commonwealth made a vital contribution to the Allied victory over Japan. Nearly 2.5 million men served in the all-volunteer Indian Army and a further 60,000 in the Royal Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. Australians fought in Malaya and New Guinea; Canadians at Hong Kong and in the Aleutians; New Zealanders in the Solomons and other Pacific islands. South African troops helped to capture the Vichy French island of Madagascar to prevent it falling to the Japanese. The British Pacific Fleet joined the US Navy in the Pacific islands campaign and ships and men of Royal Australian, Canadian and New Zealand Navies were also actively involved against the Imperial Japanese Navy. 15 squadrons of the Royal New Zealand Air Force were fighting in the Pacific by the end of the war, while squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force flew over 45,000 sorties from 20 Pacific bases in 1944.

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, then First Lieutenant, served in HMS Whelp, a W-class destroyer of the Royal Navy, during the war as part of the British Pacific Fleet. HMS Whelp was present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese signed the surrender.

The Japanese finally surrendered on 14 August 1945 following the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Soviet declaration of war and invasion of Manchuria. The next day, Wednesday 15 August 1945 was celebrated as VJ (Victory over Japan) Day. Japan formally surrendered on 2 September 1945 at a ceremony in Tokyo Bay aboard USS Missouri. Victory was total, but it came at a high price. Britain suffered 90,332 casualties in the war against Japan of whom 29,968 died, 12,433 whilst prisoners of war.