The king gives courage and sacrifice of veterans

King Charles III and Queen Camilla have joined the two veterans for a memory service to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.

Now some 33 men aged between 96 and 105, who served in the Army in the Far East and Pacific, were guests of honor in the National Memorial Arborate in Staffordshire.

A wreath was laid by a royal couple before a flypate by RAF’s red arrow and national two -minute silence.

The incident heard the accounts of veterans and citizens caught in the war. Earlier, the king issued an audio message in which he received the title of courage and sacrifice of the veterans.

Win on VJ Day, or Japan Day, is remembered on 15 August every year and marked on the date in 1945 when Japan surrendered to the armies of the friendly countries, ending the World War Two after nearly six years.

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

Actress Celia Emiri narrated the story of war in the Far East in the service organized by the Royal British Legion, as the experiences of those who participated were told by individually and through films shown on screen.

George Durant, who served in Intelligence Corps, appeared on stage with his pardoti, as he paid tribute to a fallen Comrade, saying that he was “not as a hero but as a person but as someone who was seen to be the price of freedom”.

Lincolnshire’s Royal Navy veteran Alfred Conway noticed that his great -grandfather had a garland on the Burma Thailand railway memorial in the arboretum.

There was also a tribute to poet Sir Ben Okri for the contribution of soldiers admitted from countries in the British Commonwealth to fight in Burma (now Myanmar).

The queen appeared to be wiping a tear, which is a veteran Yawar Abbas, originally from Lucknow in India, “to salute my brave king, who despite the fact that she is with her beloved queen here that she is subject to treatment for cancer”.

The 105 -year -old said he hoped that it would bring “rest” that he was free from cancer for 25 years.

This service – Prime Minister Sir Kire Stmper also participated – World War I -Yuga aircraft, Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster Bomber concluded with a flypt.

A reception was then held for the king and the queen to meet the veterans and their families.

Among those in service were Edward Hadfield, who were now 100, who served in the 8th Punjab Regiment in Burma and were on a boat in the Indian Ocean on VJ Day.

“You have never heard such cheer in your life,” he remembered the BBC. “The war was over, and you were alive, and I was alive.”

However, he said that he also remembers friends who were not alive “given” [their] Today we can be our tomorrow ”.

The 83 -year -old Catherine was also in the Canning National Memorial Arborate. She was 11 months old when her family was declared “enemy aliens” in Japanese -occupied China.

Along with his parents and brother, she was taken to an intern camp, where she spent a few years of her life and recalling that she was being saved by Paratropers on VJ Day when she was three years old.

Another veteran, 99 -year -old Stanley Roberts, at the event, said the VJ Day ceremony was “deeply important”, “We would not be around 90th”.

The son of a Japanese military doctor traveled to the UK to attend the ceremony as well.

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

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

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

He said that he now “spoke in the same sense of memory and celebration, as we honor all those whose service and sacrifice saw the forces of freedom”.

The king referred to the forces of the British, Commonwealth and Friends countries, which fought for months after the end of the war in Europe, which came to be known as the “forgotten army”.

He mentioned the “horrific” situations to the prisoners of the war in Japanese captivity, and faced innocent citizens in “serious difficulties” in the occupied areas.

“His experience reminds us that the true cost of war extends beyond the battlefields, touching every aspect of life – today a tragedy is clearly displayed by the struggles around the world.”

The king also accepted the “immense value” paid by the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where more than 200,000 people died as a result of the US atomic bombing in August 1945.

He said that this was a price that we pray that no nation needs to be paid again “.

The king said: “But remembering so much pain, we should not lose sight of how great it was and how sweet victory.”

He cited the support and cooperation in the cultural division, saying, “The courage and comradery displayed in the dark hours of humanity is a flame that will be a blast for eternity – a beacon that respects our past and guides our future”.

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

After the Dawn broke on Friday, the British military bagpipers played the ‘Far East Khand of the National Memorial Arboratum and the Ore of Lamant Battle in Edinburgh Castle – as well as riding in HMS Prince of Nepal, Brunei, New Zealand, Japan and Wales, currently in the sea in the Far East.

A piper also performed at a Japanese Peace Garden in West London to reflect the harmony between the UK and Japan over the decades since the war ended.

From 21:00 BST on Friday, buildings across the country will be burnt for 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 Sumor and the white clifted in Singapore.

The programs to celebrate the 80th anniversary will end with a reception for veterans at Windsor Castle in the autumn.