15/08/2025
OTD: 15th August Today marks the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day.
A day in which we take stock and remember over the 71,000 British, Empire and Commonwealth casualties of the war in South East Asia, from the forgotten 14th Army under General Slim in Burma, who turned defeat into victory, to the sacrifices of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy, in the Java Sea, and including more than 12,000 prisoners of war who died in Japanese captivity.
The signing of the instrument of surrender in Tokyo Bay onboard the USS Missouri wouldn’t take place until the 2nd of September, but with the cessation of hostilities, it brought to an end the Second World War the most deadliest conflict in human history leaving over 85 Million dead both military and civillian.
80 Years ago tonight His Majesty King George VI commemorated the ending of the Second World War and VJ Day with the following words, as true then as they are now.
“Great, therefore, is our responsibility to make sure by the actions of every man and every woman here and throughout the Empire and Commonwealth that the peace gained amid measureless trials and suffering shall not be cast away.
For great as are the deeds that you have done, there must be no falling off from this high endeavour. We have spent freely of all that we had: now we shall have to work hard to restore what has been lost, and to establish peace on the unshakable foundations, not alone of material strength, but also of moral authority.
Then, indeed, the curse of war may be lifted from the world, and States and peoples, great and small, may dwell together through long periods of tranquillity in brighter and better days than we ourselves have known.
It is to this great task that I call you now, and I know that I shall not call in vain. In the meantime, from the bottom of my heart I thank my peoples for all they have done, not only for themselves but for mankind.”
HM King George VI - 15th August 1945
In marking this 80th Anniversary HM The King reminds us that we should never forget the lessons that history teaches us:
“On this landmark anniversary, we should also pause to acknowledge that in the war’s final act, an immense price was paid by the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – a price we pray no nation need ever pay again.
But in recalling so much suffering, we must not lose sight of how great was the cause and how sweet the victory. For those heroes of V.J. Day gave us more than freedom; they left us the example of how it can and must be protected.
Countries and communities that had never before fought together learned to co-ordinate their efforts across vast distances, faiths and cultural divides. Together they proved that, in times of war and in times of peace, the greatest weapons of all are not the arms you bear, but the arms you link. That remains a vital lesson for our times.”
HM King Charles III - 15th August 2025
