VJ Day 80th anniversary
Posted on 16th Aug 2025 by Mark Seymour
The Burma Star Memorial Fund was well represented at the central national event marking the 80th anniversary of VJ Day. BSMF Chairman Viscount Mark Slim, his son Billy and BSMF Director Mark Cann were at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire where King Charles III and Queen Camilla joined World War Two veterans for a remembrance service. Some 33 men now aged between 96 and 105, who served in military in the Far East and Pacific, were the guests of honour.
The BSMF representatives spoke with the BBC (see above) about the poignancy of the day and the legacy of those sacrifices made in shaping the future for today's generation.
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.
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.
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.
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".
To listen to the King's speech click here