King uses VJ Day address to send stark message about current global conflicts
The King has used his VJ Day speech to send a stark message about current global conflicts.
He describes the anniversary as a reminder that “war’s true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life – a tragedy all-too vividly demonstrated by conflicts around the world today”.
In a powerful audio recording to mark 80 years since the end of the Second World War in the Far East, he warns of the importance of never forgetting the “service and sacrifice of the wartime generation and what it shows us about the ongoing need for international cooperation”.
King Charles says: “Those heroes of VJ 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 coordinate 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”.
London servicemen parade towards Piccadilly Circus in London on hearing of the Japanese surrender offer. File pic: AP
The message, which was recorded in the Morning Room at Clarence House earlier this month, echoes the address to the nation made by his grandfather, King George VI, at the end of the war in 1945.
It also mirrors sentiments King Charles made in his speech to mark the anniversary of VE Day back in May and can be seen as indicative of his concerns about current world events and conflicts.
A New Zealand sailor and three GIs chair a policeman in Piccadilly Circus after hearing of the Japanese surrender offer. File pic: AP
He goes on to say, “We recall, too, the prisoners of war who endured years of brutal captivity: the starvation, disease and cruelty that tested the very limits of human endurance.
“Innocent civilian populations of occupied territories faced grievous hardships, too.
“Their experience reminds us that war’s true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life – a tragedy all-too vividly demonstrated by conflicts around the world today.”
Why is it important to mark VJ Day?
In July, King Charles welcomed President Zelenskyy to Windsor Castle for an audience, after showing support for Ukraine since the war began.
In December, the King attended a reception for charity workers who have been operating in the Middle East to thank them for their efforts.
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Ahead of Donald Trump’s arrival for a state visit to the UK in September, the King specifically praises the USA but combined with a more personal reflection.
“While that final victory in the Pacific was achieved under the strategic command of our steadfast American allies,” he says, “the war in South East Asia had reached its climax under the leadership of my great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, from whom I learned so much about the particular horrors and heroism witnessed in those furthest fields of combat.”
Thousands took to New York’s Times Square after President Truman announced Japan’s unconditional surrender on 14 August 1945. File pic: AP
He does not specifically mention Japan, which, on 15 August 1945, surrendered to Allied Forces.
As King Charles acknowledges, “the forces on the ground sometimes considered themselves ‘the Forgotten Army'”.
With Victory in Europe (VE Day) declared in May 1945, some have felt that historically, VJ Day has been overlooked, undervaluing the sacrifices of those who continued to fight on for another three months.
The monarch ends his message: “Let us, above all, remember the epitaph in the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery on the battlefield of Kohima: ‘When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today’.”
The King and Queen Camilla will also publicly mark the anniversary and meet veterans, as they did for VE Day, by attending the National Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
President Zelenskyy meets King Charles
The service, run in partnership with the Royal British Legion, will be attended by Burma Star recipients, a veteran of the British Indian Army and those involved in the Battles of Kohima and Imphal, as well as Prisoners of War.
A two-minute national silence will be held at midday.
