PERSHORE Abbey Community are commemorating the 75th anniversary of VJ Day online with a Service of Reflection to be shown on their YouTube channel at 9.30 am.
Led by the Revd Steve Dunton (Curate) there will be prayers for forgiveness as well as the traditional acts of Remembrance as we reflect on the horror inflicted and suffered on both sides of the conflict.
Due to the ongoing social distancing restrictions currently in place, there will be a special outdoor tribute display on Saturday in front of St Andrew’s Parish Centre with a display of commemorative Pershore rocks.
The garden has already been replanted with yellow and orange flowers to represent the relentless heat in the Far East. In addition, a pot of white flowers has been added with painted rocks praying for World Peace and remembrance of those killed by the atomic warfare.
Anyone wishing to view the service can find Pershore Abbey Community on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter or view via the links running on the Abbey website at www.pershoreabbey.org.uk
Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, Lt Col Patrick Holcroft LVO OBE, paid tribute on the eve of VJ Day’s 75th anniversary marking peace in Japan and the end of the Second World War.
He said: “The 75th anniversary of the formal surrender of Japan, and with it the ending of the Second World War, will fall on Saturday August 15, 2020.
“After six years of intense global struggle, Britain was finally at peace and the forces which had threatened the nation’s existence, values and way of life had finally been defeated–with the significant help and sacrifice of our allies.
Earlier this year, we remembered the 75th Anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany on VE Day. But even though by May 1945 the war in Europe was over, the struggle in the Far East was to continue for another four months.
Since December 1941, British and Empire forces had been involved in a long and costly struggle against a remorseless and implacable foe.
Those service personnel captured by the Japanese early in the war in places such as Hong Kong and Singapore suffered unimaginable hardships in captivity.
After early Japanese successes, British and Empire forces serving in the British XIV Army regrouped and fought back in mountainous, jungle-clad terrain in extreme conditions of heat and monsoon to inflict a comprehensive defeat on the Japanese in Burma.
This victory altered the course of the war and within all ranks of XIV Army, it set an example of multi-racial comradeship and cooperation which has particular resonance for us today.
Amongst those involved in this campaign were men and women from Worcestershire and a certain Colonel Sir Tom Moore, whose incredible fortitude surprised us all this summer and whose fundraising for NHS Charities was recently recognised by Her Majesty The Queen.”
The Prince of Wales, accompanied by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, will lead the UK in a national moment of remembrance and thanksgiving for all those who served in the Far East at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire as part of a special televised service.
There will be a two minute silence at 11am.
