VJ Day memorial event pays tribute
Motherwell will once again host itsvj Day memorial later this month.
A special memorial to those who served in the Far East duringworldwar Two, located outside the Civic Centre in Windmillhill Street, has since become the focal point for those wishing to remember relatives and loved ones who bravely served their country during that dark time.
A good number of those remembered had been taken prisoner following the Fall of Singapore in February 1942 and had subsequently slaved in Japanese death camps throughout the Far East.
Many did not return. Others, including men of Lanarkshire’s Cameronians, had fought like tigers in the jungles of Burma to halt the Japanese onslaught.
Sadly their bravery has largely been over looked by history and they have become known as the‘forgotten Army’
The service will be held at 11am on Thursday, August 15, and among those attending will be Lady Susan Haughey, the Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire, representing HMTHE Queen, and the provosts of North and South Lanarkshire.
The service will be conducted by the Rev Bill Bergin of Motherwell Diocese and Roberta Hutton representing the Presbytery of Hamilton.
Campbellthomson, from the Lanarkshireyeomanry Group, added: “A particularly poignant aspect is the playing of the Last Post and Reveille by 16-year-old Angus Friel, the great grandson of L/bdrwilliam Burns of the Lanarkshireyeomanry who was held as a POW on the Death Railway in Thailand.
“Happilywilliam Burns returned to his family but many did not.they will all be remembered during this special service.”