Far East sacrifice is never forgotten
Tribute to memory of troops
War veterans and members of the public gathered at Motherwell Civic Centre to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the end of WW2 in the Far East.
The Japanese Army surrender to Allied forces effectively marked the end of the Second World War.
The service, organised by North Lanarkshire Council and the Lanarkshire Yeomanry Memorial Group, paid tribute to the many prisoners of war who suffered terribly in prison camps far away from home.
Hundreds of men, many serving with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry in Malaya, were taken prisoner after the fall of Singapore and suffered and died in slave camps in Thailand, Taiwan and Borneo.
Jean Jones, depute provost of North Lanarkshire, and South Lanarkshire Provost Eileen Logan took part in laying wreaths at the War Memorial to pay tribute to those involved in the conflict.
Depute provost Jones said: “The unconditional surrender brought an end to the devastation of the Second World War in that part of the world.
“The passing time since that awful conflict doesn’t diminish our admiration for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
“The war in the Far East was fought on a truly enormous scale and, although many thousands of miles from the conflict here in Europe, the brutal realities, massive loss of life and wholesale devastation were the same.
“Many Allied troops also were consigned to the unimaginable horrors of Far East prisoner of war camps with suffering on a horrendous scale.
“In Lanarkshire we take great pride in our armed forces that so bravely fought for freedom in the Far East.
“We are grateful to them all for their sacrifice and we must make sure their memory is never forgotten.”
Rev Derek Gunn from the Presbytery of Hamilton and Monsignor Thomas Millar from Motherwell Cathedral addressed the ceremony, which included an introduction from Campbell Thomson of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry Group and the Royal British Legion.