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Never forget their sacrifices: global VJ Day 80 services bring curtain down on end of WW2 commemorations
15 August 2025
Today we celebrate – and commemorate – the end of six cataclysmic years of conflict and victory over fascism and militarism, eight decades to the day after the Empire of Japan surrendered.
The 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan day is being marked at home and abroad, on land, at sea and in the skies, with services and acts of commemoration large and small.
The national act of thanksgiving takes place at the National Memorial Arboretum, where HM The King will lead tributes to the ‘greatest generation’, accompanied by The Queen, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, military leaders and 1,500 guests.
Guests of honour will be more than 30 veterans of the conflict in the Far East – the youngest 96, the oldest 105 – hosted by the Royal British Legion.
Among Senior Service veterans invited are Royal Marine John Eskdale who served in both the European and Far East theatres. He survived the sinking of HMS Charybdis off the Channel Islands before being dispatched to the Pacific. He photographed the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and is one of the dwindling number of Britons to witness the official Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay.
As was stoker Alfred Conway who served extensively in the Indo-Pacific aboard destroyer HMS Wager (Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Australia, Hong Kong and Shanghai) before witnessing the historic last act of WW2.
John Harlow was a telegraphist on submarine HMS Rorqual which laid more than 1,200 mines throughout the conflict (more than any other boat and the only minelaying submarine to survive conflagration). Enjoying shore leave after getting married on August 11 1945, he was enjoying his honeymoon on VJ Day.
And John Shay served in former ocean liner HMS Montclare which was converted into a depot/command ship and served as the flagship of the ‘Fleet Train’ – the vast array of RFA and merchant ships which met all the supply and support needs of the British Pacific Fleet. “I remember VJ Day: the captain came up on deck, grabbed a loudhailer and announced that the war in the Far East was over and gave us the order to ‘Splice the mainbrace’ – have a double tot of rum!” Montclare was subsequently part of the force sent to liberate Hong Kong and help repatriate former prisoners of war.
More than 100 serving Royal Navy personnel are supporting proceedings, from Royal Marines musicians to members of the Ceremonial Guard, such as Lieutenant Commander Richard Hay who hails from a military family and has served on operations in the Mediterranean, Middle East and home waters.
His grandfather served with the Royal Signals in India and Burma (today Myanmar) for three years, in particular taking part in the decisive battle of Imphal which put an end to any Japanese invasion of India.
For Lt Cdr Hay, today is a chance to “recall and recognise the sacrifice of Service and civilian personnel during conflict”.
The service – similar in style and composition to the D-Day 75/80 events in Portsmouth and hosted by actor and author Celia Imrie – will pay tribute to those who fought and died during the War in the Far East and Pacific and thank those still with us for their service and bravery.
It will begin with a national two-minute silence at mid-day and include flypasts by the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
The skirl of bagpipes drifted across the naval base at Yokosuka in Japan and one of the more poignant ceremonies marking VJ Day as past foes turned present-day firm friends and allies gathered on the flight deck of the UK’s flagship.
HMS Prince of Wales hosted personnel from the UK Carrier Strike Group, plus US and Japanese sailors, at a drumhead service of thanksgiving on the flight deck, commemorating the end of World War 2.
The carrier’s Commanding Officer Captain Will Blackett, along with Lieutenant Commander Ihara of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force and Lieutenant Commander Rogeness of the United States Navy, laid wreaths, with a Royal Marines musician on the bagpipes providing the haunting melody to the occasion.
The flagship is half-way through her Operation Highmast mission working with allies and partners from the Mediterranean to the western Pacific Rim.
The goal is to reaffirm the UK’s commitment to the security of the region, demonstrate collective resolve with our allies and showcase British trade and industry.