
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight to mark 80th anniversary of VJ Day
VJ Day, or Victory over Japan Day, is commemorated on 15 August each year, marking the date in 1945 when Japan surrendered to the Allied forces, ending World War Two.Sqn Ldr Sugden added: "It's about putting our tribute to the huge sacrifice of all the men and women who served during the 1940s." "Everybody has, however tenuous, a tie to these aeroplanes and what they represent. "So I'm hoping we're the magical ingredient on Friday, and we're really looking forward to being there."
What is VJ Day?Sqn Ldr Paul Wise said: "It's the honour. It's what we represent. We live for events like this. "Those freedoms that we enjoy today, they were hard fought and won by people from our local communities. So it's our way of making sure that their memory continues."The event will also include veterans' testimonies, music performances and readings.
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Leader Live
25 minutes ago
- Leader Live
VE Day overshadows VJ Day, veterans' descendants say
Passers-by paused to watch recordings of loved ones' reading excerpts from the notes at the free installation to commemorate VJ Day. One message, heard at the launch in central London on Tuesday, said: 'I'll think of you wherever you are, if it be near or far. I'll think of you. We'll meet again someday, when dreams come true.' Another line, from a doctor in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, read: 'Our dreams have finally come true. The nightmare is over.' VJ Day on August 15 marks the anniversary of Japan's surrender to the Allies following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, effectively ending the Second World War. Veronica Silander's father was an RAF airman and prisoner of war in Batavia, now Jakarta in Indonesia, and wrote his letter around two months after he was captured. It was the first message Ms Silander's mother had received from Maurice Read since he was taken and it included the line: 'So once again, do not worry please. I am OK and intend to remain so.' As the letters played on the large screens behind, Ms Silander told the PA news agency: 'The youngsters need to know about (VJ Day), I think it's often in the shadow of VE Day. 'I think probably 80 years, you know, even people like myself are not going to be around that had direct contact with somebody, so I think we should mark it.' She added: 'I think my mother must have been very distressed to know that he was still a prisoner when all the celebration was going on.' Her father rarely spoke about the war but would say 'when you woke up in the morning, you didn't know who was going to be dead beside you'. Ms Silander knows little more than that he trained in Auckland, New Zealand, and was captured two weeks after they were taken to Singapore by sea. Families received leaflets telling them 'do not ask the veterans about the war', she said. 'I think they just wanted them to come home and forget about it,' she added. John Sanderson served with the Royal Navy in the Far East between 1944 and 1946, and his letter to his fiance included the line 'we'll meet again someday, when dreams come true'. His son, Brian Sanderson, told PA: 'My father always said VJ Day was forgotten.' He would tell his wife that while people were dancing on VE Day 'I had kamikaze pilots coming down on me still'. VJ Day was hardly marked until recently, Mr Sanderson said, adding that his parents did not often speak about the war. 'That's the sad thing, is that we never asked them, they never spoke about it, and the stories have gone – I have no-one left from the Second World War,' he said. The installation runs until Saturday at Outernet, near Tottenham Court Road station, and was organised in partnership with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Leader Live
25 minutes ago
- Leader Live
105-year-old taken as PoW after torpedo attack tells Sophie of VJ Day liberation
Sophie met 105-year-old Royal Marines veteran James 'Jim' Wren in Salisbury on Tuesday ahead of the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day), which marks the surrender of Japan to the Allied Forces on August 15 and the end of the Second World War. Mr Wren survived the sinking of HMS Repulse in December 1941 but was captured by the Japanese in Singapore in February 1942. He spent the next three and a half years as a prisoner of war and was still in captivity in August 1945 when the war ended. When the duchess, who is patron of The Java Far East Prisoner of War Club 1942, asked if his family knew he had survived, Mr Wren said: 'It was right until the end of the war until they knew I was alive. 'So they suffered all this time.' Mr Wren sat next to Sophie at the Old Sarum Manor Care Home surrounded by three generations of his family, including daughter Denise Dables, 69, son-in-law Andy Dables, 72, his granddaughter Kirsty Dables, 51, and great-granddaughters Freya, 18, and Ellie, 16. The veteran caused mirth when Sophie asked what had attracted him to serve in the Navy, and he replied: 'Nothing attracted me to the Navy – I didn't want to be in the Navy.' Mr Wren applied to join the RAF and the Army when he was 19, but was turned down. He then joined the Navy after his uncle, a retired Royal Marine, was recalled on reserve. After completing the eight-month training course, Mr Wren was posted to join the battlecruiser HMS Repulse in the autumn of 1940. On December 10 1941, HMS Repulse was sunk by Japanese aircraft off the coast of Malaya, in what is now Malaysia. Mr Wren recalled: 'It was around 11 o'clock in the morning, I was having a cup of tea on the mess deck and the alarm was raised. 'I dropped my cup and as I left the mess deck, the first bomb dropped right behind me. 'Fortunately, it didn't explode – I was able to go down two or three decks before it exploded. 'It was torpedo after torpedo,' Mr Wren added. The veteran, who grew up in Sussex, also remembered when he was captured by Japanese soldiers alongside a group of civilians as they attempted to flee Singapore on a boat. 'It must have been awful, because you were surrounded by women and children,' the duchess told Mr Wren, who nodded. 'We didn't know when our next meal was coming from or when our next drink was coming from…' he added. 'They had no idea how to deal with prisoners of wars, the Japanese – no idea.' Mr Wren was kept as a prisoner in Sumatra until he was released in August 1945, after Japan surrendered. Son-in-law Andy Dables said Mr Wren did not start sharing his war memories until he was 99. 'We are just impressed that he remembers everything – he's as sharp as any,' Mr Dables said. 'But you wouldn't just forget anything like that, though, would you?' The King will commemorate the 80th anniversary of VJ Day on Friday with an address to the nation, Buckingham Palace previously said. Charles's pre-recorded audio message will be broadcast on VJ Day ahead of a service of remembrance attended by the King and Queen, Second World War veterans and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

South Wales Argus
42 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Blaenau Gwent to commemorate 80th anniversary of VJ Day
Blaenau Gwent will commemorate the 80th anniversary of VJ Day on Friday, August 15, honouring the end of the Second World War and the sacrifices made in the Southeast Asia campaign. The commemorations hold particular significance for the area due to the Battle of Tredegar Hill in Burma (now Myanmar), where 11 young men from Blaenau Gwent lost their lives and 29 were injured during a critical assault by the 6th Battalion South Wales Borderers. The 11 who died were Private John Edward Ellis; Private Charles Benjamin Evans; Sergeant Charles Gwilliam; Lance Corporal Edward Holmes; Private Thomas Sims Howells; Private William Eleazer Jones; Corporal Harold Lucas; Private William Emlyn Rogers; Lieutenant Austin Noel Stephens; Private William John Tranter; Corporal Raymond Frederick Wookey. The ridge, later renamed Tredegar Hill, was described by General W.J. Slim as 'held by a tenacious and fanatical enemy who fought to the last.' Lieut-General Sir A.F. Christison said: "I was privileged to watch the assault on the 26th March by the 6th Battalion South Wales Borderers and it was with great pride that I saw with my glasses British troops swarming over the hill and knew that the position had been won." Pat Evans, of Tredegar, shared memories of her father, Douglas Healy, who served in Burma with the 2nd Battalion of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment." She said he didn't speak about his experiences, but never recovered from what happened out there. Councillor Derrick Bevan, armed forces champion for Blaenau Gwent Council, paid tribute to those who served in the Southeast Asia Campaign. Cllr Bevan said: "They fought in some of the most challenging conditions, through dense, insect-infested forests and faced a fierce fighting opposition. "It is no wonder that those who served there never spoke about it." A full programme of events will take place across Blaenau Gwent on August 15, including commemoration services, a parade, and the lighting of beacons and lamps. The public is invited to attend and take part in remembering those who served and sacrificed.