Time to remember the ‘Forgotten Army’
Today it is my privilege to represent Her Majesty The Queen at the Sovereign’s Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. It is the culmination of a year’s intensive training for officer cadets and sees them officially commissioned into the British Army. It will be a proud moment for hundreds of cadets as they anticipate the next stage of their military career. It will also be a poignant moment for me, as almost 30 years before, I was one of those marching onto the parade ground. And this is a profound moment for the nation, on the eve of the 75th anniversary since Victory over Japan.
That earlier generation has often been labelled the “Forgotten Army”, but it is clear the passage of time has not dimmed the legacy of those proud warriors.
The multinational, “million-man” army that formed in Burma reminds us of the power of international cooperation. Made up of nations from across the Commonwealth and beyond, this vast collective endeavour not only stuck together through adversity but repelled an invading force once described as “invincible”.
The actions of the British Pacific Fleet underline the virtues of persistence and reach. They never stopped intercepting Kamikaze attacks or harrying mainland Japan, despite being under constant enemy fire.
And in a time when coronavirus is testing nations’ resilience, the value of constant readiness is surely embodied by allied air crews who, heedless of the danger, dropped 615,000 tons of supplies, airlifted 315,000 reinforcements and evacuated 210,000 casualties.
Most importantly, despite living in the face of new threats and technologies, those heroes of the Pacific teach us the timeless values of courage and selfless commitment. Not purely the physical courage and personal sacrifice that saw 21-yearold Lancastrian lieutenant William Basil Weston lay down his life to capture a heavily defended bunker against fanatical opposition during an attack on Meiktila in Burma. But the moral courage that Field Marshal Slim, commander of the Fourteenth Army, referred to when he spoke at the Sovereign’s Parade at Sandhurst seven years after the war ended: “Moral courage is the courage that makes him do what is right because he believes it to be right.”
Despite jungle heat, disease, monsoons and the loss of more than 30,000 of their comrades, those soldiers kept on going. And their sacrifices not only helped achieve collective triumph, but paved the way for new institutions devoted to halting tyranny and granting freedom to those in pursuit of peace and prosperity.
That is why I have been determined to make sure those heroes receive a fitting remembrance on this great anniversary. Tomorrow morning, a lone piper will play Battle’s O’er on the deck of HMS Belfast, itself a “veteran” of the British Pacific Fleet; wreaths will be laid at the Cenotaph; and the Red Arrows will carry out a national tour, before soaring over both HMS Belfast and The Royal Hospital Chelsea, home to three Burma Star recipients.
The BBC will broadcast the Royal British Legion’s Remembrance Event at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, including a flypast by the RAF’S Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, before showing a unique VJ Day commemoration from Horse Guards Parade. The broadcast will recount major moments of the conflict. It will performers, musicians from across the UK Armed Forces, our great servicemen and women, and most importantly the veterans themselves.
It is fitting that we should be rediscovering that “forgotten” generation. The proud young officers who I address at Sandhurst today will face very different challenges, requiring new skills and tools, as part of a more modern, nimble, and integrated Army. But triumphing again will require the same values of courage and selfless commitment, and for that they and the whole nation can draw inspiration from our Pacific heroes.
So when I lay my tribute at the Arboretum, it won’t just be to commemorate those giants who, in Field Marshal Slim’s unforgettable words, did “the hard marching, hard fighting, hard living and hard dying”. Nor will it be just to say thank you to those brave veterans we are still so privileged to have with us. It will be to honour and pledge anew to the upholding of their lasting legacy – the freedoms we enjoy today. Freedoms born of collaboration, of persistence and resilience, of courage and sacrifice, and, above all, of hope.