4 days ago
VJ day in Scotland marked by pipes at dawn and two-minute silence
Events have been held around Scotland to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.A lone piper played at Edinburgh Castle at dawn ahead of a national two-minute silence for those who served in the Far East and Pacific during the Aberdeen, the Gordon Highlanders Association Drums and pipes performed on the city's Castlegate, while in Renfrewshire veterans held a victory Day, or Victory over Japan Day, is commemorated on 15 August each year and marks the date in 1945 when Japan surrendered to Allied forces, bringing World War Two to an end after nearly six years.
A service of remembrance also took place at Cavell Gardens in Inverness, where the solemn silence was observed at King Charles III and Queen Camilla joined World War Two veterans, aged between 96 and 105, for a remembrance service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. In an address to the nation later, the King will say the service and sacrifice of those who fought and died in the Asia-Pacific theatre will never be forgotten.
The event in Aberdeen was held at the Gordon Highlanders monument. The statue honours the last armoured regiment fighting at the end of the gathered for the event in the city's Castlegate, including representatives from the Burma Star Association and the Royal British American visitors, who were in the city on a cruise holiday, were also in Lively, 78, from Arkansas, told BBC Scotland News: "My father fought in Europe and was put on orders to go to Japan before the war concluded. "I'm glad they are still remembering those men and women who died for us."We can't forget what happened. If you forget history, you re-do history."Fellow veteran, Ernie Palmer, 77, from Georgia, added: "This is so needed. We are forgetting too much and forgetting the price that was paid."As time goes by and veterans die off, it is getting forgotten and isn't being remembered enough, so this is very appropriate."The brutality of the enemy in those days was horrendous. It had to be stopped. It stopped at great cost. So many men from this area paid that cost."
Jim Smith, 72, from Aberdeen, was present in memory of his father, Victor, who served in the Gordon told BBC Scotland News: "I wanted to be here to remember my father and his colleagues who suffered. "He was interned by the Japanese for three-and-a-half years."He spoke very little about what happened. He didn't reflect. The only thing I ever heard from him was, 'I was one of the lucky ones'. "He said that the poor devils who didn't come home, they are the ones everyone should think about. He was just thankful he came home."
Elsewhere, veterans from the Erskine Home in Bishopton, in Renfrewshire, were joined by family and supporters on a victory group crossed the Erskine Bridge in tribute to those who served at the end of the World War Seymour, 90, who served alongside the Gurkas in Malaya (now Malaysia), laid a wreath at the VJ Memorial Stone at the from Sunderland but now living in Scotland, he was just ten years old when the war ended but remembers street about the walk he said: "It was my way of honouring those who didn't come home."It was an emotional day but also uplifting to see so many people coming together."
