Britain's Queen Elizabeth pays tribute on 75th anniversary of Japan's WW2 defeat

 

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Queen Elizabeth attends a ceremony to mark her official birthday at Windsor Castle in Windsor, Britain, June 13, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Pool/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Queen Elizabeth paid tribute to the sacrifice of soldiers on the 75th anniversary of VJ Day, which marks victory over Japan and the end of World War Two, as she recalled the anguish of the war and joy of its conclusion.

 

Japan signalled its intention to surrender on August 15, 1945, after atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. Japan's emperor has expressed "deep remorse" for the country's wartime past.

 

Elizabeth, 94, said she would never forget the jubilant scenes and overwhelming sense of relief at the end of the war.

 

"Amongst the joy at the end of the conflict, we also remembered, as we do today, the terrible devastation that it brought, and the cost borne by so many," she said in a message.

 

"Prince Philip and I join many around the world in sending our grateful thanks to the men and women from across the Commonwealth, and Allied nations, who fought so valiantly to secure the freedoms we cherish today."

 

Elizabeth, a teenager when the war broke out, learned to drive military trucks and be a mechanic while serving in the women's Auxiliary Territorial Service. She was in Buckingham Palace when it was bombed in September 1940.

 

Her husband, Philip, who served in the British navy during the war and was on board the destroyer HMS Whelp in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrender was signed, will feature in a photo montage of living veterans which will be shown on large screens in locations across the country.

 

His son, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, will lead a national two minute silence at the National Memorial Arboretum in central England while grandson Prince William will feature in a special BBC TV programme.

 

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Christina Fincher)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-16

 

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During most of the war, my mother had no idea where my brother was. His letters were heavily censored.  Then she got one letter telling her to buy a copy of Banjo Patterson's  "The Man from Snowy River".  Therein is a mention of Timor ponies.  At last she had an amount of peace.  He came home eventually a wreck of a young man.  One of our neighbors had a boy on the Railway.  You Aus. know which one I mean.  Another neighbour's son had to look after the hens, so couldn't go.

Edited August 16, 20205 yr by Gillyflower

12 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Japan signalled its intention to surrender on August 15, 1945, after atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

I come and stand at every door

But none can hear my silent tread 

I knock and yet remain unseen 

For I am dead I am dead 

 

I'm only seven but died in Hiroshima long ago 

I'm seven now as I was then 

When children die they do not grow 

 

My hair was scorched by burning flame 

My eyes grew dim my eyes grew blind 

Death came and turned my bones to dust 

And that was scattered by the wind 

 

I need no fruit I need no rice 

I need no sweets nor even bread 

I need nothing for myself 

For I am dead I am dead 

 

All that I need is for peace

That you fight today you fight today  

So that the children of this world 

can live and grow and laugh and play 

 

                           Hiroshima Child 

 

God forbid we ever witness mushroom clouds rising in anger again .. 

Try to remember that the Atomic bombs were dropped to make Japan end the war that they began.

  Some people have forgotten this fact.

Geezer

2 hours ago, Victornoir said:

Totally wrong.

Japan had already lost the war. These 2 bombs were dropped for the sole purpose of showing the Russians who was stronger.

The immediate consequence was the research and production of equivalent weapons in Moscow and the nuclear escalation that continues today.

Every soldier and Marine that didn't die invading Japan would disagree with you. Losing the war didn't change that the Japanese would fight any invasion on their homeland.

A 3rd bomb was due to be dropped on 19th had Japan not taken the hint.

If those bombs were not used, the war would have dragged on a lot longer.

  I have heard and read many stories about the war, as well as taking 

history in school.  I have even heard some fake news of how unnecessary the

bombs were.  The war ended a lot faster after the leaders of Japan seen what

they would lose if they did not immediately surrender. 

Geezer

1 hour ago, evadgib said:

A 3rd bomb was due to be dropped on 19th had Japan not taken the hint.

Every US soldier and marine that had fought the Japanese through the previous years would have volunteered to be the man that pushed the button to drop it, IMO.

6 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

Try to remember that the Atomic bombs were dropped to make Japan end the war that they began.

  Some people have forgotten this fact.

Geezer

Was it the citizens of hiroshima and nagasaki themselves that started the war.

 

While I respect the service I cannot imagine why anyone would be proud of being used for cannon fodder or killing for country.

 

People who would be otherwise unintrested dying and killing to further the intrests of megalomaniacs in power.

After loosing 2 brothers, one in Singapore the other building the Death Railway, my mother would often say the whole of Japan should have been exterminated.

No doubt many families felt the same way

12 minutes ago, n00dle said:

Was it the citizens of hiroshima and nagasaki themselves that started the war.

 

While I respect the service I cannot imagine why anyone would be proud of being used for cannon fodder or killing for country.

 

People who would be otherwise unintrested dying and killing to further the intrests of megalomaniacs in power.

Do you realise that the Japanese started it and if not stopped would have conquered Australia and NZ, among other countries?

Was it the citizens of hiroshima and nagasaki themselves that started the war.

I doubt the citizens of China massacred by the Japanese or the Asian civilians worked to death on the railway share your concern.

12 minutes ago, Victornoir said:

Perhaps read the full Wikipedia article on this subject to qualify your point.

 

"As Japanese leaders rejected the terms of the Potsdam conference ultimatum, the United States wants to impose on Japan its unconditional surrender, the ouster of Emperor Hirohito and the adoption of a regime democratic politics. The American government also wishes, since these two new weapons are now operational (one was with uranium, the other with plutonium), to test them in full size and show other countries, in particular the USSR, the the decisive fiery superiority they give America, making this bombing the inaugural act of the Cold War. These bombings, which some consider to be one of the Allies' main war crimes, remain the only use of nuclear weapons during conflict".

Two birds with one stone.

The bombs DID end the war before hundreds of thousands of US soldiers died on Japanese soil, which would have happened.

They may also have been used to warn the Russians.

 

War crime in who's opinion? Certainly not in the opinion of every allied soldier or Chinese civilian, many of which would, IMO, have killed every Japanese in Japan if given the chance.

20 minutes ago, Grumpy one said:

And let Charlie loose behind the wheel  ????

Very doubtful, IMO, that Charles will ever be king. More likely to go directly to William. Cost too much to change the stationary just for a few years.

Poor Charles to spend his life waiting for the job he will never, IMO, get to do.

His mother should have abdicated years ago, but she never really cared for him. IMO.

5 hours ago, Saraburi121 said:

Right on the point that Japan had lost the war.  Rest historical speculation. 

Garbage,the japs were still fighting

Some troll posts removed also replies

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Every US soldier and marine that had fought the Japanese through the previous years would have volunteered to be the man that pushed the button to drop it, IMO.

I met a survivor of the Bataan Death March. The average person alive today cannot imagine the cruelty of the Japanese. Even my racist father questioned the morality of using the atomic bomb on Japan, but It only seemed like justice in my mind.

Was its use justified has been a call ever since and the stark reality of the answer to the question of saving tens and probably nearer to hundreds of 000's of U S and allied servicemen's lives who would've been lost trying to seize the mainland islands of Japan given the ferocious way the Japanese defended Iwa Jima and Okinawa must be yes .. But in taking one of Mankind's finest scientific achievements and debuting it against Man himself to achieve the end game it set off a chain reaction not unlike the principle itself as from the moment it detonated in that blinding flash it become the must have addition to your arsenal .. 

And so we embark on a West v East standoff lasting decades whereby each side accumulates enough of these weapons accompanied with bellicose rhetoric about using them to send any souls unfortunate enough to survive a full on conflagration back to the stone ages .. and all characterised by the simplistic but utterly fitting acronym MAD .. the financial cost to all the nations who developed and now possess these weapons since their inception is probably incalculable but the madness is continuing to this day with still more than enough maintained and available for delivery to ensure our collective demise .. So are we really that smart that we can achieve such a scientific goal as splitting the atom to then see it's primary use as a way of ensuring our collective destruction .. it's a mad world .. 

Edited August 17, 20205 yr by Justgrazing
Sp