15 August 2020 is the 75th anniversary of VJ Day, marking both the surrender of Japan and the end of the Second World War. There are various ways to pay tribute, see the dedicated website https://ve-vjday75.gov.uk/ and use the hashtag #VJDay75 to join in online.
Please see below for the planned activity for Saturday 15 August:
- On the day the Prince of Wales, accompanied by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, will lead the UK in a national moment of remembrance and thanksgiving for all those who served in the Far East. His Royal Highness will lead a two minute silence at 11am at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire as part of a special televised service.
- A number of veterans, including 93 year-old Albert Wills who served in the Royal Navy aboard HMS Indefatigable, will be present at the service to pay their respects to their fallen comrades and will represent the surviving veterans of the war in the Far East still alive in the UK today.
- Armed Forces musicians will lead the nation in a Service of Remembrance hosted by The Royal British Legion at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. The ceremony will involve a flypast by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
- His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge will feature in ‘VJ Day 75: The Nation’s Tribute,’ a special programme filmed at Horse Guards Parade that will be broadcast on BBC One. Alongside veteran testimony, The Duke will honour and give thanks to all those who sacrificed so much during the Second World War.
- Large screens in various locations across the country will show a montage of living Second World War veterans with an image of their time in service as well as His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, who was present on board HMS Whelp in Tokyo Bay for the signing of the Japanese surrender.
- A piper will play “Battle’s Over” at the Imperial War Museums’ HMS Belfast in London at sunrise as part of a tribute entitled ‘Waking Up to Peace’, that will also include pipers playing at dawn in India, Australia, New Zealand and Nepal.
- Then in the first such flight since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, The Red Arrows will conduct a UK wide flypast tribute over Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and London with its path including The Royal Hospital Chelsea, home to three Burma Star recipients.
Other plans for the day include:
- VJ Day 75: The Nation’s Tribute will be broadcast on BBC One. Filmed at Horse Guards Parade, alongside veteran testimony His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge will give an address which pays tribute to the veterans and the wartime generation, as the Nation honours, thanks and remembers all those who sacrificed so much during the Second World War. The pre-recorded programme will highlight the scope and diversity of the British military in 1945. It will include a host of famous faces reading tributes, military bands and dramatic visual projection.
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