Charles and Camilla lead tributes to ‘forgotten heroes’ on VJ Day
PRINCE Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall yesterday led the nation as it marked the 75th anniversary of VJ Day – when the Second World War ended with victory over Japan.
As veterans in their 90s looked on, the Royal couple laid poppy posies and wreathes at the Kwai Railway Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, before a two-minute silence was held in honour of those who died in the conflict.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, a Second World War veteran who was aboard HMS Whelp in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945, sent a message of ‘grateful thanks’ to all those ‘who fought so valiantly’ for the Allied nations.
Earlier, Boris Johnson greeted veterans and joined them in watching the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flypast.
Charles spoke of the dangers of jungle warfare and the loss of Allied prisoners of war in the AsiaPacific campaign.
‘All too often, those who fought in the Far East have been labelled the forgotten army in the forgotten war,’ he said.
‘Many of the soldiers, nurses and other personnel felt anger and disappointment at how they were treated when they finally returned home from a war which, from the public’s point of view, had ended on the May 8, 1945.
‘Let us affirm that they and the surviving veterans are not forgotten. Rather, you are respected, thanked and cherished with all our hearts, and for all time. We salute all those who remain among us, and offer our most heartfelt and undying gratitude for those who are gone before. Your service and your sacrifice will echo through the ages.’
There were an estimated 71,000 British and Commonwealth casualties in the war against Japan, including more than 12,000 prisoners of war who died in captivity.
In an address broadcast last night, the Duke of Cambridge said: ‘Like many of you, I am hugely proud of the wartime generation.
‘ My grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, fought in the Far East. His ship, HMS Whelp, was present in Tokyo Bay as the surrender was signed. He remembers vividly his role in collecting released prisoners of war, a sign – as sure as any to him – that the war was finally over.’
Among the veterans who met Charles and Camilla was Edward Woodward, a 97- year- old who served in Burma, India and Malaya with the Royal Corps of Signals.
He sparked laughter when he asked the couple to guess what was the most sought-after item in their air-dropped rations.
‘Toilet paper,’ the former electrician from Kings Norton, Birmingham, told them.