“May the memory of their sacrifice and bravery remain with us always.”
AS CHARLES LAYS A WREATH ON THE 75th ANNIVERSARY OF VJ DAY THE QUEEN PAYS HER OWN TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO OUR HEROES...
BUGLES and bagpipes sounded at dawn as 40 veterans, all in their 90s with Burma Stars on their chests, gathered for possibly the last major commemoration of the end of the war against Japan 75 years ago.
Those unable to overcome their frailties stayed at home, absorbed by private memories of one of the most bitter campaigns of the Second World War.
In a special message for VJ Day, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh gave thanks to those “who fought so valiantly to secure the freedoms we cherish today”.
Prince Philip was actually onboard HMS Whelp in Tokyo Bay on that day – August 15, 1945 – when General Yoshijiro Umezu, chief of the Army General Staff, surrendered on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters.
In the statement, the Queen said: “Today we mark the 75th anniversary of VJ Day, which brought victory for the Allies and finally marked the end of the Second World War.
“Those of us who remember the conclusion of the Far East campaign, whether on active service overseas, or waiting for news at home, will never forget the jubilant scenes and overwhelming sense of relief.
“Amongst the joy at the end of the conflict, we also remembered, as we do today, the terrible devastation that it brought, and the cost borne by so many.
“Prince Philip and I join many around the world in sending our grateful thanks to the men and women from across the Commonwealth, and Allied nations, who fought so valiantly to secure the freedoms we cherish today.
“May the memory of their sacrifice and bravery remain with us always.”
The Royal Family was represented by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, who attended the service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
Accompanied by the strains of Hymn To The Fallen, they laid a wreath and poppy posies while veterans looked on from scattered benches to maintain social distancing.
Other wreaths were laid at the Cenotaph in London, as well as at Sai Wan Cemetery in Hong Kong, Kranji Cemetery in Singapore, Taiping War Cemetery in Malaysia, Jakarta War Cemetery in Indonesia and India Gate in New Delhi.
Reciting The Exhortation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
“At the going down of the sun, and in the morning. We will remember them.”
The service heard from veterans who were imprisoned by Japanese forces.
Alice Wingate, whose grandfather General Orde Wingate led the Chindit deep penetration army through the jungles of Burma before his death in March 1944, was among those who spoke. She recalled his Order of the Day as Allied forces crossed the Chindwin River on February 13, 1943.
She said: “The battle is not always to the strong nor the race to the swift. Victory in war cannot be counted upon. But what can be counted upon is that we shall go forward, determined to do what we can to bring this war to the end.”
Charles de Winton, whose father Major Charles Jocelyn yn Parry de Winton was cap- tured in Singapore and spent three years as a POW at Changi prison, constructing the notorious railway cutting called Hellfire Pass, also spoke.
He said: “You never talked about your captivity and what you experienced at Hellfire Pass. I know you just wanted to forget it all.
Only with the help of your now deceased comrade Tony Lucas have I found out what you endured and survived.
“Today, 75 years from your release, I feel your suffering needs to be remembered by future generations so that it was not all in vain.”
Jane Elgey recalled how she was just 16 when her family was liberated from Loebok Linggau camp in Sumatra.
She said: “Parachutists came down from the sky and through our camp gates. We were overwhelmed with emotion. Our three th years as prisoners of war was finally over.
“I was captured with my family in a boat fleeing Singapore. Our mother looked after us well. Unfortunately we lost our grandmother.”
Richard Day, 93, spoke of his involvement in the decisive Battle of Kohima in north-east India, which marked a turning point in the Far East land campa campaign.
Th The former Royal Welch Fu Fusilier, from north L London, said: “The worst p part was crossing rivers at night – it was cold at night – then spending all night in wet clothes and wet equipment, still having to move about.
“They [the Japanese] w were very determined for the their emperor.
““It was a glory for them to die for their emperor. The They didn’t appear to have any fear at all.”
Edward Woodward, 97, who served in Burma, India and Malaya with the Royal Corps of Signals, caused mirth after asking the royals to guess what the most sought-after item in their air-dropped rations had been.
“Toilet paper,” he told the Prince and Duchess.
After meeting the royals, the former electrician from Birmingham said: “That had them laughing.”
The occasion was concluded by Charles and Camilla, who led the nation in a twominute silence. Delivering a powerful speech, Prince Charles praised the “extraordinary bravery, resourcefulness and tenacity” of an allied force which was “as remarkable as its diversity – hundreds of thousands of troops from India, Burma, China and across Asia joined by hundreds of thousands more from Europe, Africa, Australasia and North America”.
The Prince said: “The courage and fortitude shown by all those who fought in the region was exemplary.
“From the vantage point of the 21st century, it is hard for us to appreciate fully the suffering endured by those who fought or were caught up in this theatre of war.
“Drawing on his time as supreme allied commander, south-east Asia command, my great uncle Lord Mountbatten helped me to begin to understand the quite atrocious conditions experienced by our forces throughout south-east Asia.
“But those of us not there at the time can only really begin to understand.”
Charles, who took over from Prince Philip last year to become patron of the Burma Star Memorial Fund, recalled how Far East veterans returned to a Britain for whom the war had ended three months earlier with the defeat of Nazi Germany.
He added: “All too often those who fought in the Far East have been labelled the forgotten army in the forgotten war.
“Many soldiers, nurses and others 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 in May 1945.”