Blatant profiteers exploiting the brave

EVEN the Prime Minister was briefly lost for words. Who could blame him? Pulling up a chair in the Royal British Legion tea tent, he found himself alongside a man who had seen the atom bomb explode over Hiroshima and a man with both the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross on his chest.

Captain Ted Maslen-Jones of the Royal Artillery had won both decorations over the Burmese jungle directing artillery on to the Japanese from a tiny, unarmed plane.

Private Gordon Smith had been a prisoner of war on the outskirts of Hiroshima when he saw a strange object drop from a plane by parachute, followed by fire, thunder and a mushroom cloud.

But it wasn’t that which left the PM open-mouthed.

It was Mr Smith’s recollection of having his appendix removed shortly before by a Japanese orderly – without anaesthetic.

You don’t have to spend long with veterans of Britain’s Far Eastern campaign to understand the importance of marking VJ [victory in Japan] Day properly.

This weekend has seen powerful and memorable events across the country and on television, following a Daily Mail campaign for proper recognition of the 70th anniversaries of the two great landmarks of 1945.

It is just a pity that it has also seen blatant profiteering from train bosses who saw fit to exploit this historic moment by raising prices for the day.

South West Trains – which not only services the traditional homes of the Royal navy (Portsmouth), the Army (Aldershot) and the Royal Air Force (Farnborough) but also has a disproportionate number of veterans living in the region – should be ashamed of itself.

I travelled to and from the commemorations on a South West train carrying many veterans, their families and huge numbers of ordinary people who simply wanted to go to London, wave a flag and say ‘thank you’. Who on earth decided that these people should be charged extra?

Months after VE Day had brought peace in Europe, both the ‘Forgotten Army’ and the Pacific Fleet were still embroiled in some of the most brutal fighting of the Second World War. Among those still standing on August 15, 1945, many would never get over the horrors they endured.

Ten years ago, they felt forgotten all over again when Tony Blair’s administration merged the 60th anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day into a multi-purpose event on a random day in July which did not clash with Government holiday plans. The veterans were furious.

At the start of this year, few 70th anniversary plans existed for either date until the Mail’s campaign led to direct intervention by number Ten. The result was delightfully obvious this weekend on the faces of the 1,200 veterans and widows cheered through the capital on their parade from Horse Guards to the gardens of Westminster Abbey. Some blew kisses, some wept. Some were in wheelchairs, others did their best to march in time. Former Able Seaman and retired boxer Peter Kent, 90, did neither and danced the whole way twirling his walking stick like a majorette.

THEY had started the day at church with t he Queen and Prince Philip, himself a veteran of the Far East and, like all this lot, a proud holder of the Burma Star medal. They finished with a boisterous tea party (plus a spot of dancing and something a good deal stronger than tea) in the company of the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Prime Minister.

‘It has been wonderful, just wonderful. We’re very grateful,’ said former RAF aircraftsman and standard-bearer, Frank Morgan, 93, from Burgess Hill, West Sussex, after a long chat with the Prince.

‘I was so upset when they ignored the 60th but I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. I was absolutely determined to get here. We all were.’

Roll on the 80th. Just don’t take the train.