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Reuters
4 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
King Charles warns of war's 'true cost' at VJ Day's 80th anniversary
LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Britain's King Charles on Friday released a message commemorating the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, which marks the Allied victory over Japan and the end of World War Two, reflecting on current conflicts and warning that the cost of war reaches far beyond battlefields. While fighting in Europe ended in May 1945, the conflict with Japan continued until it signalled its intention to surrender on August 15 that year after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. Charles said the war's final act brought an "immense price" for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, one he prayed no nation would ever pay again. Charles will be joined by his wife Queen Camilla, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Japanese ambassador and veterans for a National Service of Remembrance to pay tribute to those who were killed in the last three months of the war. There will be a flypast featuring historic military planes, a two-minute silence at midday and famous buildings across the country will be lit up to mark the occasion. The monarch used his six-minute address to highlight ongoing conflicts: "War's true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life, a tragedy all too vividly demonstrated by conflicts around the world today." He said that in World War Two, nations that had never fought side by side learned to work together, proving "that in times of war and in times of peace, the greatest weapons of all are not the arms you bear, but the arms you link". "That remains a vital lesson for our times," he added. Starmer said in a statement the "country owes a great debt to those who fought for a better future, so we could have the freedoms and the life we enjoy today". At dawn military bagpipers performed at The Cenotaph war memorial in central London, at Edinburgh Castle and the National Memorial Arboretum in central England where the service of remembrance will be held later, the government said. A piper was also expected to perform at a Japanese peace garden to recognise the reconciliation between Britain and Japan in the decades since the war ended. On Friday evening, dozens of buildings and locations across the country including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London, and the White Cliffs of Dover will be illuminated to mark the anniversary.
The Sun
09-08-2025
- General
- The Sun
How elite WW2 special forces unit the Chindits smashed Japanese supply lines in Burmar ahead of anniversary of VJ Day
THEY were the lions of the jungle – 10,000 British troops led by an eccentric genius. With their distinctive slouch hats, the Chindits were the highly trained special forces who fought the Japanese, often hundreds of miles behind enemy lines, deep in the steaming, fetid jungles of the Far East. 7 7 7 Next Friday marks the anniversary of VJ Day, when, after six years, World War Two finally ended with the Allied victory over Japan. By the time Japanese Emperor Hirohito officially surrendered on August 15, 1945, the war in Europe had been over for more than three months and the 365,000 British troops fighting in the Far East became known as the 'Forgotten Army', after its operations in the Allies' Burma campaign were largely overlooked by the Press at the time. Today, 80 years after that victory, only two British Chindits are left alive — 104-year-old Charlie Richards and Sid Machin, 101. Sid, of Christchurch, Dorset, will be among nearly three dozen VJ veterans, aged 98 to 105, who will attend a national service of commemoration hosted by the Royal British Legion on August 15. Against the odds The veterans will certainly not be forgotten when they join the King and Queen at the moving ceremony at Staffordshire's National Memorial Arboretum. The royal couple will pay their respects in the Arboretum's Far East corner, which includes a monument to the Chindits. In early 1942 Burma's then capital, Rangoon — now called Yangon — was overrun by Japanese forces intent on pushing north to invade India. A maverick British military leader, Brigadier Orde Wingate, came up with a daring plan to create a multi-national force of lightly equipped men, who would work in small teams hundreds of miles inside enemy territory. Oddball Wingate often gave orders in the nude and sported a straggly beard, supposedly to keep mosquitoes away. When dressed, he ate raw onions which he often kept in the pocket of his filthy uniform, and he would dangle a large alarm clock from his belt to remind his men that time was against them. World War Two veterans come together to mark the 80th anniversary of their victory Wingate named his highly trained troops after the only creature in Buddhism that is permitted to use force — Chinthe, the lion-headed dragon that sits outside every sacred pagoda in Burma, now known as Myanmar. His men, including Major James Lumley, father of actress Joanna, called themselves the Chindits. Flying in by glider, they set up strongholds behind enemy lines from where groups of men would attack the Japanese, often with bayonets drawn, in hand-to-hand combat. A constant stream of transport aircraft brought in supplies that included not just ammo and food but also mules to carry equipment. I have never before listened to anybody who so compelled my attention, who dominated his audience Col Charles Mercer Light ambulance planes would land on remote airstrips hacked out of the jungle to evacuate the wounded, three at a time. Despite early setbacks, the Chindits' bravery and tenacity against the odds raised morale and showed how British soldiers could live and fight in the jungle. They also attracted the attention of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who called Wingate 'a man of genius'. Col Charles Mercer, who died recently aged 105, recalled: 'He was quite a small man, not very military in bearing. "I have never before listened to anybody who so compelled my attention, who dominated his audience. "He was a fearless, inspiring leader.' 7 7 7 Veteran Chindit Charlie, who was 22 when he joined the unit, recalled how, after six months of hard training, Wingate told the men they were 'on the adventure of a lifetime'. But he also warned them: 'Many of you are going to die, or suffer wounds, or near starvation. All of you will meet hardship worse than anything you have imagined.' Charlie and Sid took part in Operation Thursday, when 85 gliders towed by US aircraft took off on a moonlit night in March 1944 to pass over 7,000ft peaks to land 150 miles behind the front line. The Chindits had been ordered to relieve comrades who were holed up in a jungle base codenamed White City, but they came under attack almost every night. So many soldiers on both sides died that the stench of death was overwhelming. Charlie, from Kettering, Northants, recalled: 'The whole place was getting so putrid because of the number of Japanese bodies outside the perimeter that the pilots of incoming planes said they had no need of maps for the last few miles — they could smell their way in.' Wingate's unit adopted a strategy of near silence to avoid alerting the enemy, and Charlie said: 'The rule was, everyone spoke softly, even sergeants. "Whispers were the order of the day and even this made us a bit nervous and alert to every sound.' In our main picture, taken by a wartime photographer from Life magazine, a group of Chindits wave joyfully at their RAF rescue plane but they had been told: 'Cheer, but don't make a sound.' The casualty rate was still brutal. Of the 400 men in Charlie's column, just 140 were unscathed. The rest were either dead, wounded or struck down by disease. Wingate, who by then was an acting Major General, died in 1944 in a plane crash aged 41. At the time he was carrying a nomination for a Victoria Cross for Chindit Lt George Cairns, who had had his arm hacked off with a sword by a Japanese soldier. Cairns, 30, killed the soldier, picked up the sword and carried on fighting. Just before he died from his wounds he said: 'Have we won? 'Did we do our stuff? Don't worry about me.' Because the nomination was lost in Wingate's plane wreckage it was five years before Cairns was awarded his medal posthumously — the fourth VC given to a Chindit.
CNN
08-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
China's Xi hails ‘stable and resilient' Russia ties as he shows solidarity with Putin in Moscow
Chinese leader Xi Jinping hailed Russia and China's 'stable and resilient' ties as he began talks with counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday in Moscow, a show of solidarity in the face of global uncertainties unleashed by US President Donald Trump's 'America First' diplomacy. Sitting across a table from Putin, Xi said the countries' 'political mutual trust has grown deeper' and 'practical cooperation has strengthened.' 'In this new era, China-Russia relations are more composed and confident, stable and resilient,' he added. Xi arrived Wednesday for a four-day state visit to Russia, where he'll top a list of foreign leaders attending Putin's heavily choreographed Victory Day military parade, which is taking place in the shadow of Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine. This year's events mark 80 years since the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, which ended World War II. Putin welcomed his Chinese counterpart to the Kremlin, where they shook hands in a cavernous hall before posing for photos flanked by oversized Chinese and Russian flags. During opening remarks, each referred to the other as a 'friend.' Talks held over breakfast, as well as an informal, one-on-one tea on Thursday morning, are expected to cover their strategic partnership, the war in Ukraine and Russia's relations with the United States, according to the Kremlin. The two leaders have met more than 40 times over the past decade and steadily strengthened their partnership in recent years in the face of shared tensions with the West. Their diplomacy this week comes at a pivotal moment in each country's relations with the United States. China is now locked in an escalated trade war with Washington, sparked by Trump's heavy tariffs on the world's second-largest economy. Moscow, meanwhile, has found a more sympathetic America under Trump than it did during Joe Biden's presidency, but is now warily eying recently warming ties between Washington and Kyiv. Both Beijing and Moscow have appeared keen to use the gathering to showcase themselves as stable partners and reliable powers, part of a broader bid to reshape an international order they see unfairly dominated by the West. 'Currently, in the face of an international countercurrent of unilateralism and the hegemonic practices of the powerful, China together with Russia will take on our special responsibilities as major world powers and permanent members of the UN Security Council,' Xi said during his opening remarks, using language Beijing typically employs in veiled references to the US. Putin noted that the two countries were developing their 'ties for the benefit of the peoples of both countries and not against anyone' and said the two governments were working to implement 'an entire array of practical agreements, including a detailed plan for economic cooperation until 2030.' The meeting takes place hours after a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine — unilaterally declared by Putin last month — came into effect, coinciding with the parade. Russian state news agency Tass said the ceasefire began at midnight local time on Wednesday (5 p.m. ET Wednesday). However, Ukraine's air force claimed that, overnight, Russia launched guided bombs over the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine. CNN could not independently verify the claim. Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned dignitaries traveling to the event that Kyiv 'cannot be responsible for what happens on the territory of the Russian Federation,' amid the ongoing conflict, a statement the Kremlin said amounted to a threat. Ukraine has launched multiple drone attacks on Moscow over the course of the war, including in recent days, prompting temporary closures of airports in the capital for several hours. Ukraine says its attacks are in response to Russia's continued assault on Ukrainian territory, including residential areas and energy infrastructure. More than two dozen leaders are expected to gather in the Russian capital for the Victory Day celebrations, while troops from 13 countries will march in the parade, according to the Kremlin. Leaders expected to attend include Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Belarussian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko. The gathering, a key chance for Putin to project himself as a global power player, takes place amid an increasingly contentious global backdrop, including tensions between India and Pakistan which threaten to spiral into a full-blown conflict. Russia's May 9 Victory Day is one of the country's largest celebrations. It marks Nazi Germany's 1945 surrender to the Soviet Union, a day which has become increasingly important under Putin, who has falsely claimed his war in Ukraine is a 'denazification.' In recent years the parade has seen a diminished supply of military hardware, as Russian tanks are instead mobilized on that war's front lines. Europe celebrates its VE Day, marking Germany's surrender on all fronts, on Thursday. CNN's Darya Tarasova contributed to this report.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Relive VE Day as it happened 80 years ago when Britain threw epic party to celebrate Germany's surrender in WWII
Eighty years ago, the Allied fight against Nazi tyranny came to an end. At 3pm on May 8, 1945, Winston Churchill told the nation in his radio broadcast that it was 'your hour' and 'your victory'. As news of the end of the Second World War in Europe spread, so did the country-wide rejoicing. London was swamped by hundreds of thousands of people celebrating the end of five years of toil and sacrifice - even if the war against Japan was still ongoing. A decade ago, when Britain's marked 70 years since the end of the war, esteemed historians Jonathan Mayo and Emma Craigie recounted VE Day minute by minute in the Mail, as it happened in 1945. Now, we have used their words to again to reveal how the day progressed, from 7am until midnight.
Bloomberg
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Taiwan's Lai Warns of New Totalitarian Threat in Victory in Europe Day Speech
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te warned that Taiwan and Europe are under threat from new totalitarian powers in a speech aimed at underscoring Taipei's alignment with the West amid growing threats from China. In a speech to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Allied victory in the Second World War, Lai highlighted how both Taiwan and Europe are facing election interference, disruptions of their communications infrastructure and grey-zone tactics aimed at challenging established international norms and free markets. He did not name any countries as the source of those threats.
