Memorials held across the West to mark 80th anniversary of VJ Day
In Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, the day was marked by veterans bearing military banners in the town's Italian Gardens. In the Gloucestershire towns of Quedgeley and Cheltenham, crowds gathered at war memorials.
In Marlborough, Wiltshire, council dignitaries invited the public to join them in the silence from the steps of the town hall.It was preceded by a bugler playing the Last Post and the Kohima Epitaph was spoken from the steps. Ted Allen, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset, said: "The war in Asia was almost the forgotten war. So while we celebrated the incredible relief in Europe in May this year it is absolutely right that we celebrate victory in Japan. We should never forget."
Jane Norris, of the Royal British Legion, was among those who took part in the silence at Victoria Park, in Frome, Somerset. She said wreaths were laid and Rudyard Kipling's poem Recessional was read. "This was a sober, sombre reflection of the atrocities that went on and the endurance of people in the jungle and in the prisoner of war camps, not forgetting those who suffered when two atomic bombs fell," she said.
Also at Victoria Park was Gina, who said her father served in Burma, now Myanmar. While most of the nation was celebrating the end of the war in Europe, her family knew the fighting was ongoing."It has to be remembered," she said.Timothy Painter, from Marlborough, said his father volunteered in the Navy's Fleet Air Arm. "I thought it would be nice to remember him for the service he did during the war and remembering how it affected him very deeply, especially collecting the prisoners of war from Japan," Mr Painter said.
He said his father watched an atomic bomb go off. "He was in a ship in Japanese waters, so all these things really deeply affected him," Mr Painter said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
3 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Remembering VJ Day and the Powys hero who returned home
Today marks the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day, when Japan surrendered and the Second World War ended in the Far East. While VE Day marked the end of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945 many thousands of Armed Forces personnel were still involved in bitter fighting in the Far East. Today is also a poigniant day for one Powys family. Chrissy Maddy shared the amazing story of her father Lawrie Price who lived in Hay on Wye following the end of the war. Mr Price had to lie about his age to get enlisted in the Oxe and Bucks Light Infantry and would train in Oxford, Northern Ireland and Scotland before boarding a ship to South Africa. From there he was sent to India and flown into Burma. They landed in the middle of the jungle where he joined the Chindits, a special force under the command of General Wingate. They had a long march from the crossings of the Irrawaddy river in Burma - now Myanmar - and completed a 600 mile trek over three months which saw the soldiers navigate narrow valleys and mountain sides. Daughter Chrissy said: "Dad witnessed many harrowing scenes and the loss of fellow recruits played heavily on his mind for the rest of his life. "Few of us can imagine the hardship those brave soldiers endured. "Trekking like mules carrying half their body weight in a backpack across mosquito infested rivers, through steamy dense jungle terrain with scant water, little food, high humidity, temperatures of 110-112F, monsoons and always the threat of the Japanese. "Life here was no paradise and conditions were extremely tough." The Chindits, named after a Burmese mythical animnal, endured some of the worst conditions of the War. They suffered terrible casualties from savage hand-to-hand combat as well as sickness and slow starvation. In the first expedition a third of the men were lost and 600 of the survivors were too ill to ever fight again. Malaria, Dysentery and Tuphus were rife and Mr Price suffered with all three of these diseases as he plunged from a sturdy 12 stole to a skeletal seven sone. "Dad was desperately ill and taken by raft across a lake to a hospital in Assa," said Chrissy. "There were many sick and wounded men on this raft and many were thrown overboard as one by one they died. "By the time they got to Assam my Dad was the only survivor. "He recovered slowly in hospital for three months were the nurses taught him embroidery and after convalescing he was able to join his Battalion in Poona." However, fate intervened and changed the course of Mr Price's life. When the day finally came to leave hospital and join his Battalion there wasn't room for him onboard. The next day he learned that the boat had sunk and there were no survivors. Chrissy said: "Dad always believed that there was someone with him all the time looking after him and that he was meant to survive. "He was brought up in a religious family and like the rest of our family had a strong faith which helped him enormously. My Dad was a survivor one of the lucky ones." After the end of the war, Mr Price returned home to Hay on Wye on the Powys border and married his sweetheart Peggy and together they raised seven children. Mr Price re-joined Hay St Mary's Football Club having been a keen football player in his younger years and even declined a trial at Liverpool Football Club. Chrissy said: "My Dad treasured each day and lived it to the full, his love of nature, the River Wye, his family and life's simple pleasures that cost nothing were what was important to him . "Dad never talked about his time in Burma and only received his medals when my sister wrote to the British Legion when he was in his eighties and was dying of Bowel Cancer, so he did get to see his medals before he died."
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
SARAH VINE: My grandfather bore the scars of war with Japan. I wish I'd listened to him more wisely
Friday'S VJ Day 80th anniversary commemorations at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire may have been overshadowed in budget and scale by those to mark D-Day and VE Day in May – but they were no less moving. In the presence of the King and Queen, the few surviving witnesses of that 'forgotten war', fought against the Japanese in the mosquito-infested jungles of Burma, gave their testimonies on a giant screen.
Sky News
4 hours ago
- Sky News
Last surviving Second World War Victoria Cross recipient dies aged 105
The last surviving Second World War recipient of the Victoria Cross had died at the age of 105, the Royal Air Force (RAF) has said. Flight Lieutenant John Cruickshank, from Aberdeen, was awarded the cross for bravery during an attack on a German U-boat that left him injured. The RAF said on Facebook that it was "saddened to hear of the death of Britain's last surviving World War Two Victoria Cross recipient Flight Lieutenant (retired) John Cruickshank, who died last week age 105". The RAF Association said in a separate post: "We thank you for your service." The Victoria Cross is the joint highest military decoration for valour, awarded to service personnel who have shown extreme bravery in the face of the enemy. A total of 181 people received a cross for their actions during the Second World War. Flt Lt Cruickshank was the captain of a Catalina flying boat and oversaw submarine-hunting missions from an RAF boat base in the Shetland Islands. On 17 July 1944, when he was 24 years old, Flt Lt Cruickshank was sent on a patrol to protect the British Home Fleet as it returned from an attack on a German battleship. A U-boat was spotted on the surface near Norway and the aircraft he was captaining and piloting launched an offensive. The first bombs failed to release but Flt Lt Cruickshank repeatedly turned the plane to face enemy fire and returned the attack, sinking the U-boat. Flt Lt Cruickshank sustained 72 injuries including two to his lungs and 10 to his lower limbs. The navigator was killed and three other crew members were severely injured, while the badly damaged aircraft was filled with fumes from exploding shells. The surviving crew members spent five and a half hours flying back to the Shetland Islands. Despite losing consciousness multiple times during their return, Flt Lt Cruickshank assisted the second pilot with the landing. He returned to his career in banking after the war.
