King hails veterans’ courage and sacrifice

King Charles III and Queen Camilla have joined World War Two veterans for a remembrance service to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.

Some 33 men now aged between 96 and 105, who served in military in the Far East and Pacific, were the guests of honour at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Wreaths were laid by the royal couple before a flypast by the RAF’s Red Arrows and a national two-minute silence.

The event heard moving accounts from veterans and civilians caught up in the war. Earlier, the King released an audio message in which he hailed the courage and sacrifice of the veterans.

VJ Day, or Victory over Japan Day, is commemorated on 15 August each year and marks the date in 1945 when Japan surrendered to Allied forces, bringing World War Two to an end after nearly six years.

An estimated 71,000 soldiers from the UK and the Commonwealth died fighting Japan, including upwards of 12,000 prisoners of war.

Actress Celia Imrie narrated the story of the war in the Far East at the service, as the experiences of those who took part were told in person and through films shown on a screen.

George Durrant, who served in the intelligence corps, appeared on stage with his great-granddaughter as he paid tribute to a fallen comrade, saying he was present “not as a hero but as someone who witnessed the price of freedom”.

Royal Navy veteran Alfred Conway, from Lincolnshire, watched as his great-grandchildren laid a wreath on the Burma Thailand Railway memorial at the Arboretum.

There was also a tribute from poet Sir Ben Okri to the contributions of soldiers who had enlisted from countries in the British Commonwealth to fight in Burma (now Myanmar).

The Queen appeared to wipe away a tear as veteran Yavar Abbas, originally from Lucknow in India, went briefly off-script “to salute my brave King, who is here with his beloved Queen in spite of the fact that he is under treatment for cancer”.

The 105-year-old added that he hoped it would bring “comfort” that he had been free of cancer for 25 years.

The service – also attended by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – concluded with a flypast by World War Two-era aircraft, the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster bomber.

A reception was then held for the King and Queen to meet the veterans and their families.

Among those at the service was Edward Hadfield, now 100, who served in the 8th Punjab Regiment in Burma and had been sailing from Chennai, in southern India, on VJ Day.

“You’ve never heard such a cheer in your life,” he recalled to the BBC. “The war was over, and you were alive, and I was alive.”

However, he said he had also remembered friends who did not survive who “gave [their] today so we can have our tomorrow”.

Katharine Canning, 83, was also at the National Memorial Arboretum. She was 11 months old when her family were declared “enemy aliens” in Japanese-occupied China.

Along with her parents and brother, she was taken to an internment camp, where she spent the first few years of her life and recalls being rescued by paratroopers on VJ Day, when she was three years old.

Another veteran at the event, Stanley Roberts, 99, said the VJ Day ceremony was “deeply important” as “we won’t be around for the 90th”.

The son of a Japanese military doctor travelled to the UK to attend the ceremony too.

Yoshi Sekiba said he was paying his respects to the British troops who died, explaining: “Unfortunately, we fought with each other in World War Two, but we are now good friends.”

In a message released before the service, King Charles vowed that those who fought and died in the Pacific and Far East “shall never be forgotten”.

He reflected on the moment 80 years ago that his grandfather, King George VI, announced that the war was over – “the message a battle-weary world had long prayed for”.

He said he spoke now in the “same spirit of commemoration and celebration, as we honour anew all those whose service and sacrifice saw the forces of liberty prevail”.

The King referred to the British, Commonwealth and Allied forces who continued to fight for months after the war in Europe had ended, who became known as the “Forgotten Army”.

He noted the “horrific” conditions prisoners of war endured in Japanese captivity, and the “grievous hardships” innocent civilians in occupied territories faced.

“Their experience reminds us that war’s true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life – a tragedy all-too vividly demonstrated by conflicts around the world today.”

The King also acknowledged the “immense price” paid by the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where more than 200,000 people died as a result of the US atomic bombings in August 1945.

He said it was a “price we pray no nation need ever pay again”.

The King added: “But in recalling so much suffering, we must not lose sight of how great was the cause and how sweet the victory.”

He went on to cite the collaboration across faiths and cultural divides, and said the “courage and camaraderie displayed in humanity’s darkest hour is a flame that shall blaze for eternity – a beacon that honours our past and guides our future”.

In a message posted on social media, the Prince and Princess of Wales praised the “courage, sacrifice and resilience” of those who fought, adding: “We owe an enduring debt to the generation who gave so much.”

VJ Day commemorations began on Thursday with a sunset ceremony at the Memorial Gates in Green Park, in central London, which paid tribute to Commonwealth personnel.

As dawn broke on Friday, British military bagpipers played the lament Battle’s O’er in the Far East section of the National Memorial Arboretum and at Edinburgh Castle – as well as in Nepal, Brunei, New Zealand, Japan and aboard HMS Prince of Wales, currently at sea in the Far East.

A piper also performed at a Japanese peace garden in west London to reflect the reconciliation between the UK and Japan in the decades since the war ended.

From 21:00 BST on Friday, buildings across the country will be lit up to mark VJ Day, including Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, the Tower of London, Blackpool Tower, Durham Cathedral and Cardiff Castle – as well as the Kranji War Memorial in Singapore and the White Cliffs of Dover.

Events to commemorate the 80th anniversary will conclude with a reception for veterans at Windsor Castle later in the autumn.