VJ.

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There was no phoney war for these men, nearly fifteen thousand had died before a single bomb was dropped on London. The first casualty of WWII was a British merchant vessel sunk on the day war broke out and the last casualty of the war in Europe was a merchant vessel sunk after the Armistice was signed. British Merchant seamen continued to be casualties in the Pacific theatre which was still at war until VJ day in 1945.

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A reminder why World War 2 didn’t end on VE Day

LINK

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There is just one month to go until we mark 75 years since VJ Day.

Find out how you can get involved in commemorating this special anniversary on 15 August 2020, paying tribute to those who served and died in the Far East, by visiting the link: LINK

Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

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Today we remember all those brave British & Commonwealth Soldiers & POW's who fought, suffered & died in Asia under extreme Japanese brutality and cruelty. 140,000 British & Commonwealth military personnel were captured, around 30,000 died in captivity and never came home. We Will Remember Them.

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Red Arrows will fly over Cardiff this weekend to commemorate 75th VJ Day.

The Red Arrows flight is one of the few physical events commemorating the anniversary this year:

LINK

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VIA: The History of Wales.

15th August is celebrated as V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day) the day in 1945 when Japan surrendered, effectively ending World War II.

However, the campaign to push the Japanese out of Burma was the longest and bloodiest of World War II. This is emphasised by the following orders that were given to the Japanese soldiers.

'Continue in the task till all your ammunition is expended. If your hands are broken, fight with your feet. If your hands and feet are broken, fight with your teeth. If there is no breath left in your body, fight with your spirit. Lack of weapons is no excuse for defeat.'

Japan had long resented the British presence in the Far East and with Hitler certain of victory in late 1941, they invaded Malaya and Burma to seize raw materials such as rubber and oil. British staff officers ridiculed the idea that the Japanese could be a serious fighting force and would be no match for a modern European army. Then came the brutally effective Japanese attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, on December 7th 1941. Japanese bombers were in action again three days later, sinking the battleship 'The Prince Of Wales' and the battle-cruiser 'Repulse' in the South China Sea with the loss of about 1,000 men. The news reverberated around the world and was followed almost immediately with humiliating news that Singapore had surrendered. This was followed by two and a half years of disaster and defeat for the British Army, as it retreated northwards through Burma in the face of a terrifying enemy. The Japanese completed their advance through Burma by late May 1942 and virtually all the remaining Allied troops had retreated north over the Indian border.

However, in the end, Japanese industrial capacity simply could not sustain a long war and when Germany surrendered, the Allies were able to rele

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BBC ONE.

THE NATION’S TRIBUTE

VJ Day 75

8:30pm - 10:00pm

TONIGHT.