The 75th anniversary of VJ Day will be marked in Burnham-On-Sea today (Saturday, August 15th) with a special ceremony.
Burnham’s branch of the Royal British Legion will be holding a brief ceremony at the town’s War Memorial at 11am outside Burnham Hospital in Love Lane.
A Standard will be dropped and a wreath will be laid by Burnham and Highbridge Mayor Cllr Mike Facey and Royal British Legion members. Those watching will be asked to stay socially distanced at all times.
Historians say that while VE Day marks the end of the Second World War in Europe, VJ Day signals the end of the war entirely.
Victory over Japan Day is the celebration of the anniversary of Japan’s surrender, which came more than three months after Nazi Germany waved the white flag.
VJ Day is celebrated on 15 August in the UK, because Japan announced its surrender on 15th August 1945.
A day of national events are being planned. At sunrise, kicking off the day of tributes, lone pipers will play “Battle’s O’er” at sunrise at HMS Belfast in London.
A service of remembrance will be broadcast on BBC One between 9.30am and 11.30am. It will see a two-minute silence at 11am led by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, which will be followed by an RAF flyover.
The Red Arrows will fly across the country, passing Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, and London.
In the evening, a remembrance service, VJ Day 75: The Nation’s Tribute, led by the Duke of Cambridge, will be held at Horse Guards Parade. It will be broadcast on BBC One at 8.30pm, and will see famous faces such as Hugh Bonneville and Sheridan Smith perform key moments from the conflicts.
