this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. commemorations are taking place in the uk and around the world to mark the 75th anniversary of vj day — the day world war two ended with victory for the allied powers overjapan. the prince of wales will lead commemorations here at the national memorial arboretum where a service will include a two minute silence for those who died in the far east. in tokyo, a solemn ceremony — japan's emperor naruhito expresses deep remorse for his country's past military actions.

translation: the relentless effort of the japanese people has built our country's peace and prosperity today. when thinking of the past, the hardship of our people, we reflect deeply. new quarantine rules come into effect in the uk — as countries across europe continue to fight the spread of covid—i9. more protests are expected in belarus over last weekend's disputed election — despite president lukashenko warning people not to take to the streets again. the us postal service warns that not all mail—in ballots for november's election will arrive in time after president trump refused to approve the necessary funding.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. britain's royal family and the armed forces are leading commemorations for the 75th anniversary of vj day — which marks the surrender ofjapan and the end of the second world war. the prince of wales will attend a memorial, while the prime minister borisjohnson has paid tribute to veterans for restoring "peace and prosperity". fighting in europe ended in may 1945, but many allied servicemen were still fighting against japan in east asia. vj day, 15 august 1945, marked the end of one of the worst episodes in british military history, during which tens of thousands of servicemen were forced to endure the brutalities of prisoner of war camps.

today's commemorations began with a piper playing battle's over at the imperial war museum's hms belfast in london at sunrise, as part of a tribute entitled waking up to peace. a military piper has also been performing at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire. later, the prince of wales and duchess of cornwall will attend a service of remembrance there. also this morning, defence secretary ben wallace was joined by military chiefs as he laid a wreath at the cenotaph in london. our correspondentjohn maguire is at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire. it isa it is a very significant day for those who remember and those who mourn. yes, we are a0 minutes away from the beginning of the national service of remembrance, gas gathering say they will be severing armed personnel at

the moment, —— guests are gathering, there will be serving on personnel. you can see the families, pushing them around in the world chess, the real stars of the show. the royal family will come here later on, prince charles, the duchess of cornwall will lead to marriage say. you saw the paper, the second paper he was playing on a stretch of railway track, actual sleepers and railway track, actual sleepers and railway line brought over from sumatra and it is used here at the national memorial arboretum as part of commemorations, part of the memorialfor of commemorations, part of the memorial for those of commemorations, part of the memorialfor those who of commemorations, part of the memorial for those who lost their lives in the war againstjapan, 71,000 petition, but troops died, 12,000 died in captivity and when you think about the railways, the burma railway, the railway of death as it was known, built by prisoners

of warfrom as it was known, built by prisoners of war from the allied forces, 16,000 men died building those. these are the man who enjoyed heat, humidity, disease, malaria, dysentery and those who were ca ptu red dysentery and those who were captured very often underwent horrendous conditions. some of the things, some of the factors that people will be thinking about which will be in the forefront of their minds as these ceremonies take place later on this morning. that sense that this was the army that followed so far from home to as the —— a certain extent were forgotten in the decades since, that was something that many who lead the armed forces today would like to redress. absolutely, that is one of the key m essa 9 es absolutely, that is one of the key messages and it has gone behind some of the planning of today's events to emphasise not only that this was as many as a man felt the forgotten

army, the 1ath army, because there was the time—lag, the three months between victory in europe and that was war on the doorstep of europe so people at home back in the uk would have been concern that the war was over 30 much on their doorstep, just the other side of the channel, the plates had ended a couple of years earlier, the bombing of london. —— the blitz. there was a time like, people thought such a long way, we spoke to that shown early on he said male took nine weeks to get through to the men he were fighting in jungle, some very, very difficult conditions. it is really only in latter yea rs conditions. it is really only in latter years perhaps the people have come to understand that they had a lwa ys come to understand that they had always felt like the forgotten army. dame vera lynn was held in very high regard by those who fought in the far east, she was given a burma star because of her decision to go and

see the troops a couple of times to ensure that they were not forgotten. todayis ensure that they were not forgotten. today is not about that of course, todayis today is not about that of course, today is very much about remembering those who previously had thought they had been forgotten. john, thank you. we will be back with you throughout the course of the commemorative event that this morning. in tokyo, the japanese emperor, naruhito, has expressed deep remorse for his country's past military actions. the war was brought to an end shortly after the us dropped nuclear bombs over the cities of hiroshima and nagasaki. naruhito is the grandson of emperor hirohito in whose name imperial troops fought the war. translation: since the end of the war, 75 years have passed. the relentless effort of the japanese people has built our country's peace and prosperity today. when thinking of the past, the hardship of our people, we reflect deeply.

we are now facing a pandemic of covid—19 and we are facing new challenges but we shall cooperate with each other to overcome this crisis. fourjapanese government ministers have courted controversy by visiting a shrine to the war dead, including convicted war criminals. the shrine is regarded by china and south korea as a symbol of japan's wartime aggression, and a visit by ministers is seen as highly offensive. the bbc‘s rupert wingfield—hayes has more from tokyo. so, this behind me, where i'm standing, is the yasukuni shrine and you can see the large numbers of people lining up to pay their respects to the war dead. not nearly as many as usual because of the heat today, it is over 38 celsius,

and also because of covid—19. but this is the place where ordinary japanese people come to commemorate the war dead. many of these people may have family members who died in the war, but this is not where the official war commerations take place today. they taken place elsewhere, that is where the emperor and the prime minister and senior figures have commemorated the war dead today and there's a reason for that, there is a reason the emperor doesn't come here and that is because the yasukuni shrine has, in recent decades, become extremely controversial. in the late 19705, they also enshrined the spirits of 1a of japan's most war leaders, men who were, after the war, tried as war criminals, found guilty and hanged. because of that, this place become extremely political sensitive. this morning four of prime minister's shinzo abe cabinet members came

here to pay their respects. they say they came as private citizens but in china and korea, it will be seen as a snub and more proof that japan has still unwilling to face its dark war history. south korea's president, moon jae—in, has given a speech on the 75th anniversary of his country's liberation from japanese rule. mr moon stressed that south korea was ready to talk to japan to resolve historical disputes, and his government was prepared for face to face talks at any time. seoul and tokyo are divided over compensation demands for koreans who were forced to work under the japanese occupation. tokyo says everything was settled by a treaty signed in the 1960s. let's speak now to the military historian, sir antony beevor. it is wonderful to have you on this morning. tell us what this moment means to you, with all the great knowledge of the wall at your disposal —— war. knowledge of the wall at your disposal -- war. an unexpected speed at which the war came to an end, i think most people had no idea what was happening and it was an extraordinary story behind the whole

surrender. 0n the 15th of august at midday, the emperor hirohito made his announcement by radio. no japanese had ever heard his voice before outside the royal family. most of them put themselves in front of the radio listening to his decision to end the war. i think this tends to cover up all of the debates what the armed forces wanted to continue the war right through to a very bitter end indeed. i want to pick you up on that point, it is so interesting, we are hearing from rupert there at the shrine in the intake airand from rupert there at the shrine in the intake air and the word from the south korean president, a powerful sense that this piece of history, this important piece of history is not over, it is contested history.

that is right, it is controversial, evenin that is right, it is controversial, even in the west, the debate over the dropping of the atomic bombs is all part of that. what needs to be remembered as on the 26th ofjuly the decoration demanded the unconditional surrender of japan. three days later, the prime minister rejected that right. what the americans knew from the interception of japanese military communications was the military were determined to fight on. some of them were insisting that they should be prepared to sacrifice 20 million civilians. 28 million civilians were being rounded up and forced into a militia to fight and an allied invasion using bamboo space and suicide bombs. a terrifying sort of apocalypse and away seem to be preparing itself japan. which

apocalypse and away seem to be preparing itselfjapan. which was, it didn't happen. is that because, in your opinion, of the atomic bombs? was it they say the eight entry into the war or the atomic bombs that triggered the situation to surrender? the crucial moment came on the 9th of august after we had the soviet invasion of northern china, the bomb was also dropped on nagasaki, that was the second of the two atomic bombs, and that evening there was this crucial imperial conference where the emperor foresee the decision. it was fairly clear from the report of that imperial conference that the emperor was most of all impressed by the extreme effectiveness, as he described it, as the atomic bomb and that is what persuaded him. but even so, the

military still prepared and wanted to fight on and even objected to the emperor's decision, because for them there on the west to fight reddy to there on the west to fight reddy to the death and a mass suicide that they were going to impose on the whole nation —— mike because for them they were ready to fight to the death. i need to speak about the british role, we remember in this country ve day and we remember the war in europe more readily, i would say, as a nation than we do vj day and the contribution and the sacrifice of our troops and east asia. the contribution of the 1ath army in the wall was properly as great as the american contribution but the bravery, the determination, the conditions they had to fight ten, but above all the leadership. i think almost all historians agree that general bill slim was domestic

strawberry leader and certainly the most loved —— all historians agree that general bill slim was an extraordinary leader. i think their sacrifice and what they went through during those years of defeat turning into victory using slim's that, something we will never forget. thank you for remembering it here with us today. we have to move on but it has been fascinating to talk to you. thank you. stay with us on the bbc news channel for a special programme at 10.30 as the royal british legion holds its national remembrance event at the national memorial arboretum thousands of holiday—makers have arrived back in the uk after a last—minute dash to avoid a mandatory two—week quarantine, which came into effect at aam this morning. the new rules, which apply to france, the netherlands and four other countries, follow concerns about the rising numbers of coronavirus cases there. caroline davies has the story.

as night set in, the finalfew ferries to arrive before the deadline were ready to leave calais. british visitors from across france rushed to make them. at the eurotunnel there were tense delays. it's 2:a5am. trains are running 90 minutes late. the signs say, at passport control, to get this far, they told us we should be fine to get back to the uk for the aam deadline. some knew it would be tight. the 11:59pm ferry from dieppe was due to get into newhaven at a:00am. the ferry's really quiet. everyone's been really calm. just like a normal crossing, really. but everyone around us, obviously, with face masks on and social distancing, and large parts of the ferry are closed, so i don't think they're anywhere near capacity. at 3:a0am they were pulling into port. apparently, legally, we'll have arrived in the uk

when the rope is tied up and the ship is docked. there's the rope just thrown out over there. and with minutes to spare... 3:58am in the uk. fantastic! from a:00am this morning, anyone arriving in the uk from france, the netherlands, monaco, malta, turks and caicos and aruba will have to quarantine for 1a days. that means you must go directly home and are not allowed to leave your house to go to work or school, to exercise or to socialise, but only leave in the case of an emergency. anyone who breaks the quarantine rules can be fined up to £1000, or more if they flout them repeatedly. as for helen, despite the queues, she made it back with an hour to spare. we're back in the uk! we made it. it's three o'clock in the morning,

we've just got off the channel tunnel, it cost us £200 extra. we have been driving for 12 hours from the south of france, but we've made it. many thousands of british tourists decided not to cut their trip short. for those that are still in the newly added quarantine—listed countries, two weeks in self—isolation await. caroline davies, bbc news. schools in england will be able to appeal against a—level and gcse exam grades free of charge. it's hoped the move, which will cost between £8 and £15 million, will ensure head teachers are not deterred from making appeals — especially for harder to prove cases. it comes as nearly a0% of a—level grades given out on thursday were lower than teachers' predictions. casinos, theatres and bowling alleys in england are among the businesses that are reopening their doors after lockdown — two weeks later than originally scheduled. despite measures being relaxed across the country, they won't take effect in greater manchester, west yorkshire, east lancashire

and leicester, where local lockdowns have been extended. more opposition rallies are expected in belarus today, following a call from the main opposition candidate, svetla na ti kha novs kaya. demonstrators have been laying flowers in minsk at the site of where a protestor died following violent clashes. it comes as the prime ministers of the three baltic republics, latvia, lithuania and estonia, jointly called on belarus to hold new ‘free and fair‘ presidential elections. president alexander lukashenka says forces outside the country are behind the mass protests against his disputed election victory. 0ur correspondent, abdujalil abdurasulov, sent this report from minsk. chanting. the opposition movement against president lukashenko is growing.

love, not violence, that is the message of the demonstrators here in belarus. despite a brutal police crackdown, people continue to come out onto the street. protesters have gathered in the main square of minsk. they are chanting, "freedom, freedom". they have brought flowers and balloons to show that their movement is peaceful. this is unprecedented for belarus, where authorities violently crack down on protesters. translation: i have been living here for 28 years and for 26 of them, he was ruler of this country, mr lukashenko, and i am really tired of it and i want to change it. at the notorious 0krestina detention centre, a volunteer reads out the list of names of those who still remain inside. and as detainees leave jail, they show us bruises from vicious beatings. many tell harrowing stories of torture and abuse. serhiy was arrested on monday.

riot police threw him into a police van before torturing him. they used batons and electrocuted him with a stun gun. translation: whenever we moved or said a word, they would beat us. one of the police said, "if i was ordered to burn you alive, i would." they could do anything to you. the pain was unbearable, and i begged him to stop but he carried on. 0pposition candidate svetla na ti kha novs kaya, who earlier had to flee the country, has called on authorities to stop the violence. translation: the people of belarus no longer want to live with the former regime. people don't believe in his victory at the elections. let's defend our choice. back on the square, special forces nervously keep an eye on the protesters. the president tried to soften the mood today by calling on security forces to be more

gentle, but this may be too little, too late, for the regime. abdujalilabdurasulov, minsk. the united states postal service has issued a warning that not all postal ballots for the presidential election in november will necessarily arrive in time to be counted. a huge increase in mail—in voting is expected this year but president trump says he won't approve funding to the usps to meet the extra demand. 0ur north america correspondent david willis reports. lossmaking and politically unloved. the united states postal service is about to get very busy with an unprecedented number of americans expected to vote by mail in november the clarity of the result could depend on the ability of postal workers to deliver millions of mail—in ballots on time. the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more

than 160,000 people here, according to official figures, not only puts polling staff who tend to be elderly in jeopardy, it potentially endangers those who would gather in long lines at polling stations. hence postal voting appeals to many here, although not, it seems, to president trump, who is blocking democrats' demands for additionalfunding. they want $3.5 billion for universal mail—in voting for the country. we have hundreds of millions of voters, they can't do a little race with 20,000 people. now they want to take it countrywide mail—in voting, it's going to be the greatest fraud in the history of elections. when you always talk about russia, russia, russia, china, iran on voting, your biggest problem is going to be with the democrats, the president's contention that postal voting leads to fraud isn't supported by the facts

and his opposition to it appears to have more to do with the fact that higher turnouts tend to favour the democrats. it's the sheer volume of mail—in ballots that could cause the problem and the postal service is warning it can't guarantee they will all arrive in time to be counted. a letter sent to states across the country says certain deadlines for requesting and casting mail—in ballots are incongruous with the postal service's delivery standards. democrats are furious and have accused the president of deliberately seeking to sabotage the system. the president says he's not putting up any money for absentee voting and he's not putting up any money for the postal service, undermining the health of our democracy. the prospect remains that if the beleaguered us postal service fails to rise to the challenge, millions of american voters could be disenfranchised. and such is the irony here that two of the most recent florida residents

to register to vote by mail are donald j trump and his wife, melania. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. president trump has said his younger brother is having a "tough time" as he visited him in a new york city hospital. us media reports say 72—year—old robert trump is seriously ill with an undisclosed illness. mr trump wore a face mask as he entered new york—presbyterian hospital on friday afternoon, staying for about a5 minutes. bolivia's main trade union has called off a nationwide roadblock campaign after the government approved a law preventing a further postponement of the country's general election. the vote, which was originally due in may, had been postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic. just a reminder — stay with us on bbc news for a special programme

at 10.30 as the royal british legion holds its national remembrance event at the national memorial arboretum. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell. hello. we've now lost the intense heat of the past week, our temperatures return closer to average values for the time of year. what we've not lost, though, is a lot of humidity and as a consequence of it cooling down, many of us will see scenes like these at times through the weekend — cloudy, misty and murky. some of us will also pick up some punchier showers. thunderstorms shouldn't be as widespread as they were through the past week, but there will be some showers spreading in to the south of the uk through saturday, migrating their way further north across england and wales as we move through the afternoon and then if the sun does pop out across the south—east, it willjust inject a little bit more energy into the atmosphere

and here we could see some thunderstorms through the afternoon. top temperatures, 2a, 25 degrees in the sunshine, ten degrees down on the weekjust gone. north sea coasts always cooler because of the persistent mist and low cloud here, so high teens at best. those showers in the south—east, pretty lively, i think, through the evening. they should taper off as we move into the small hours of sunday and then we'll see some showers spreading further north across england and wales, but it stays dry for scotland and northern ireland. still pretty muggy to the south, lows of 17 and 18 degrees. sunday, similar setup to saturday, low pressure to the south, high pressure to the north. but i think the showers will make their way further north through the course of sunday, so a greater chance of us seeing some wetter weather across northern england and wales through sunday. northern ireland and scotland looking like they could escape essentially, though, with a dry weekend. temperatures across the northern half of the uk, high teens, low 20s, 23 or 2a to the south on sunday. 0n into monday, you can see the low

just drifts a little bit further north. once again, a greater risk of some showers pushing into southern scotland and across northern ireland on monday. some sunny spells for england and wales, but a chance again of some heavier downpours, maybe even with the odd rumble of thunder. and some of these showers are going to materialize with enough intensity that we could get some localized flooding. and the picture as we look on into the week ahead sees us with low pressure staying pretty close by. things a bit quieter midweek. later on in the week, we could see this big old area of low pressure rolling our way. and if that is the case, by the end of the week, things could almost feel positively autumnal, certainly cooler. our biggest problem could be some very strong winds.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world to our special coverage of the uk's commemorations of the 75th anniversary of vj day — the day world war two ended with japan's surrender. britain's royal family are leading commemorations. the prince of wales will attend a memorial while the duke of cambridge will appear in a special tv programme. the duke of edinburgh will also feature in commemorations, appearing on screens across the country in a photo—montage with other veterans. this is the scene. let's talk to john maguire. this is a very

different ceremony from the one originally planned, due to the pandemic? that's right. there were several things that obviously had to be changed today to ensure social distancing. 0ne be changed today to ensure social distancing. one of the things the royal british legion had originally planned to do was to take some vetera ns planned to do was to take some veterans back to the far east. that obviously has had to be cancelled. at the ceremony is going ahead today, very much in a slightly changed circumstance, i suppose, today, very much in a slightly changed circumstance, isuppose, but just looking around you can see seats where there are seats for vetera ns seats where there are seats for veterans and their families and other people who are coming to the national memorial arboretum today. they are distanced apart on the grass. it's a different memorial here than what you would normally expect to see at memorial day or the armistice. it's in a woodland and there are different memorial is around. the focus of today's

services will be a stretch of rail track that was brought over, the burma to thailand railway built by prisoners of war, 16,000 died. there will be a poignant memorial. the prince of wales will shortly attend and lay a wreath. there will be a two—minute silence here observed by eve ryo ne a cross two—minute silence here observed by everyone across the uk and further afield because this is very much a commemoration notjust afield because this is very much a commemoration not just for the united kingdom but also for many of the other countries, the commonwealth countries that fought alongside british soldiers in the second world war, in the campaign against japan. things kicked second world war, in the campaign againstjapan. things kicked off this morning with pipers playing here at the national memorial

arboretum in staffordshire but also at hms belfast in london. that occurred at six o'clock this morning. there were pipers in other countries across the commonwealth. we are awaiting the arrival of prince charles and the duchess of cornwall now. we've seen the secretary of state for defence has already arrived, as has the head of the british military. the band of the british military. the band of the raf regiment are playing behind us. vips, veterans very much at the centre of these commemorations and when the royal british legion designed these commemorations they had the thought that veterans should still be front and centre. as the yea rs go still be front and centre. as the years go by, the numbers dwindle, but those we have spoken to say they feel honoured and privileged to be here. when ceremonies start later on, their thoughts will be with

their friends, on, their thoughts will be with theirfriends, colleagues on, their thoughts will be with their friends, colleagues and comrades who never made it back. sir david warren is a former british ambassador to japan and an associate fellow at chatham house. what do you think it is important for citizens to remember about vj day? this is a commemoration of the extraordinary sacrifices of so many people. an extraordinarily difficult and brutal war in the pacific. we remember the british servicemen and women who were part of the us led war against women who were part of the us led waragainstjapan in women who were part of the us led war againstjapan in the pacific. this was a difficult, a bloody,

miserable and brutal war. those in captivity miserable and brutal war. those in ca ptivity testify miserable and brutal war. those in captivity testify to all of that. i think it's important we commemorate their sacrifice and courage this morning. we are watching pictures of the prime minister arriving at the national memorial arboretum and talking to senior naval and military officers. i suppose in your role as a former ambassador to japan, just bring us up to the present. we are 75 years on, we have a very different relationship with japan now? we do. and that relationship developed as japan itself developed into a different sort of country after the war, as it reinvented itself during and after the us occupation of japan from 19a5 to 1952, is a democracy, as it became

an economic and industrial powerhouse in the 19605 and 705, as it became a more active country in the support of multilateral systems and the united nations and el5ewhere, so the political, economic and relationship between britain andjapan economic and relationship between britain and japan developed extraordinarily 5trongly. i was amba55ador there ten years ago, at a time when the investment from japanese companies in the uk had developed over 30—35 years, to an extraordinary degree. there are over 1000 japanese companies investing in the united kingdom, employing hundreds of thousands of people and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. japan is also important partner politically and in defence and security term5. 0ne partner politically and in defence and security term5. one of the things the british government and

successive things the british government and 5ucce55ive japanese governments have done is to embed that sense of partnership, to create a dialogue of political and security issues, where we are closer to being allie5 political and security issues, where we are closer to being allies and certainly no longer adversaries. we continue to watch picture5 certainly no longer adversaries. we continue to watch pictures of the prime minister talking to some of tho5e prime minister talking to some of those attending the ceremony today. going back to the relationship that you describe, obviously enormously different from that of august 19a5, but you must have noted with intere5t but you must have noted with interest the appearance of japanese cabinet ministers today in a ceremony at the yak a sunni shrine in tokyo, which is controversial in term5 in tokyo, which is controversial in terms of some of those who suffered at the hands of the army? ——

yasukuni shrine. yes, i've seen that developed over the past ten years. the history is disputed and although there is a powerful mood injapan which one could describe as pacifi5t and are determined to avoid all future wars, not least because of the unique trauma of having been the only country in the war to be subject to atomic attack, there is a strain in japanese subject to atomic attack, there is a strain injapanese politics which di5pute5 strain injapanese politics which disputes the history that we in the west ta ke disputes the history that we in the west take for granted. and you see that emerging in the fact that from time to time japanese that emerging in the fact that from time to timejapanese politicians from the liberal democratic party, mostly from the liberal democratic party, m ostly fro m from the liberal democratic party, mostly from the right wing of that party, sometimes japanese prime

minister5, attend the yasukuni shrine in tokyo, which is not only a place where the souls of class a war criminals are enshrined, but also has an extraordinarily nationalist museum has an extraordinarily nationalist mu5eum attached to it which gives a distorted account of the pacific war, but it's important to listen to the words of the emperor this morning. he has expressed not only a desire to avoid all war, but a sense of deep remorse forjapan's activities and behaviour during that period. i think it's important to listen closely to his words. i think you reflect5 widespread 5entiment5 injapan. you reflect5 widespread 5entiment5 in japan. sir david, thank you so much forjoining u5. let's join proceedings now

at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshie and my colleague sophie raworth. now we await the arrival of the royal highne55e5, the prince of wale5 royal highne55e5, the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall. prince charle5'5 great uncle lord

loui5 mountbatten wa5 5upreme allied commander in southeast asia, and he played a crucial role in obtaining american air support for the advancing allied forces. he was also immensely popular with the troops for his morale boosting speeches. and for prince charles, there is another personal connection, because his father, prince philip, i5 another personal connection, because his father, prince philip, is on board a destroyer in tokyo bay when the us sunk the missouri in 19a5. he teaches the us sunk the missouri in 19a5. he teache5in the us sunk the missouri in 19a5. he teaches in the photomontage of living veterans being shown on large screens of screens acro55 living veterans being shown on large screens of screens across the

country for vj day. a rare appearance for the dude who has only been seen a handful of times since retiring from royal duties in 1917. -- in 2017. retiring from royal duties in 1917. —— in 2017. the duchess of cornwall has direct links to the war herself. herfather has direct links to the war herself. her father was has direct links to the war herself. herfather was an has direct links to the war herself. her father was an officer in the british army from 1937 to 19a7 and served in the british expeditionary force in france. he was decorated twice for his contribution to the war. that included a military cro55 for covering the evacuation of british forces from dunkirk. that moment of what appeared to be di5a5ter, long before the invasion of europe, and long before the 5ucce55ful turning of the tide in the far east. looking at the veterans' faces, i'm

reminded again of conversations i have had with men who have suffered grievou5ly at the hands of the japanese. some decided that they would embark on the road of reconciliation, and join the friendship society with the japanese. 0ther5, friendship society with the japanese. others, of course, could never forget japanese. others, of course, could neverforget or japanese. others, of course, could never forget or forgive the brutality they had endured. and now, the arrival of their royal highne55e5, the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall. they are greeted by her majesty's lord lieutenant for staffordshire.

and the national president of the royal british legion. and her royal highness has been invited to lay a poppy dosy and her royal highness has been invited to lay a poppy po5y at the head of the burma railway. and here, we recall the extraordinary cost in human life of the building of that 250 mile railway. it was built to supply the japanese campaign and used approximately 61,000 briti5h, australian and dutch pri5oner5 used approximately 61,000 briti5h, australian and dutch prisoners of war. and over a quarter of a million labourers from burma, the dutch east indies, thailand and malaya. around 16,000 pri5oner5

indies, thailand and malaya. around 16,000 prisoners of war, and 100,000 labourers lost their lives. a touching gesture theirfrom vetera n. and now, her royal highness prepares to lay a po5y at the burma railway memorial. it has been said for every sleeper laid, one person lost their life.

and the memorial i5 and the memorial is in the far east corner. all of the memorials are linked to campaigns that took place in the british territories acro55 south and southeast asia and including the burma star memorial, the gurkha memorial and the chindit memorial. and of course the burma railway memorial. your royal highne55e5, distinguished guests, veterans of the far east campaign, ladies and gentlemen, a very warm welcome to this special remembrance event hosted by the royal british legion. 75 years ago today, some three

months after victory was declared in europe, victory overjapan was secured. thi5 marked the end of a battle, which ruthlessly raged throughout asia and the pacific, between the empire ofjapan and western democracy. here, in the tranquillity of the national memorial arboretum, we are surrounded by memorials to the british commonwealth forces, which numbered over 600,000 fighting in burma alone, and over 1.3 million in south east asia command overall. allies from across the world, including india, nepal, east and west africa, china and america fought as one, side by side, and one of them was my father. we are extremely honoured to be joined by veterans from both the british and indian armies here today. britain and the commonwealth's principal fighting force, the fourteenth army,

was one of the most diverse in history — over a0 languages were spoken, and all the world's major religions were represented. today, 75 years on from the moment of japanese surrender, we give thanks for the bravery, service and sacrifices made. james fenton of 178 field regiment wrote home in 19aa from burma, to his family in lancashire. we are with the fourteenth army living a solitary life. it is very warm here within the burma border. aircraft are droning overhead, leaving no space in time when their engines cannot be heard. we are in the middle of a jungle

into which your eyes penetrate no more than a couple of yards, and some places ankle deep in dust. all i can see are palm trees, dense jungle, sun—baked earth, and scorched grass everywhere. private isaac fadoyebo, aged 18, of the royal west african frontier force, recalls an ambush on the kaladan river, in burma, in19aa. we anchored at nyron village to pass the night after paddling our bamboo rafts for several hours. gunshots rang out from the opposite bank. we all ran for cover. each time the japanese stopped

firing, i made a number ofabortive attempts to get away. i made an attempt to peep at my right leg and the left hand of my body and i saw a lot of blood. i noticed that essien was in pains, i heard him saying, "take me, take me, 0 god," a few minutes later, he stopped gasping and i presumed he was no more. the memoirs of alastair urquhart of the gordon highlanders, on his arrival at ban pong, thailand in 1942. we had a 50 kilometre march ahead of us. i swayed with shock at the announcement, as if i had been punched in the face. i struggled to see how i could possibly make it through dense jungle. i looked at the rice that barely covered the bottom of my mess tin,

wondering how long it would be before i had the chance to eat it. it had already begun to ferment in the heat. all i wanted to do, was eat it, lie down and let death take me. the thought of a march through thick jungle, in darkness, was overwhelming and i sobbed quietly to myself.

ours is a "today" dearly ransomed in blood that freely flowed "yesterday" a sacrifice, the whole this tennis court was too poor to contain

gallantly lay they their lives down what price, what price a soul for the fair kohima to her, 0 faithful dead, you can never, never die while you live on in our hearts and generation to generation repeats the story of your sacrifice may the skies never close over you may the rains woo you softly, the mountains be hushed before you may you rest in eternal peace the fourteenth army in burma was the largest army under british command in world war ii and it fought in a hostile, monsoon prone, unforgiving environment. thousands caught tropical

diseases such as malaria. troops and supplies had to make it across mountain ranges, dense jungles and some of the largest rivers in the world and in this exhausting terrain, those on the 700 mile long front line were face to face with a ferocious enemy — the japanese imperial army. my grandfather, general bill slim, commanded the fourteenth army and wrote the following, which sums up the can—do attitude which developed in the burma campaign. "i do not say that the men of the fourteenth army welcomed difficulties, but they grew to take fierce pride in overcoming them by determination and ingenuity.

from start to finish they had only two items of equipment that were never in short supply: their brains and their courage. they lived up to the unofficial motto i gave them — god helps those who help themselves. anyone could do an easy job, we told them. it would take real men to overcome the shortages and difficulties we should be up against. the tough chap, for the tough job!" the largest allied special force of world war ii known for their courage were the chindits, which included british, nigerian, burmese and gurkha troops,

known for their courage. trained in guerrilla warfare they disappeared deep intojungle and blew up bridges and railway tracks hundreds of miles behind the japanese forward positions. they raided enemy lines of communication, and sabotaged supply routes, causing the japanese confusion and delay. and after they had done this, their brave commando columns masterfully melted away into thejungle, and invisibly onto the next task in hand. my grandfather, major—general 0rde wingate, led two campaigns by the chindits. this is an extract from his 0rder of the day as the chindit columns began their crossing of the chindwin river in burma on 13th february 1943. "today, we stand on the threshold of battle. it is always a minority that occupies the front line. we have all had opportunity

of withdrawing, and we are here because we have chosen to be here. that is, we have chosen to bear the burden and the heat of the day. men who make this choice are above average in courage. the battle is not always to the strong nor the race to the swift. victory in war cannot be counted upon, but what can be counted upon is that we shall go forward determined to do what we can to bring this war to the end." now when you mourn our glorious dead remember what wingate said. somewhere, some how, i know not where you will proudly stand and say

i was there. # i fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless # ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness # where is death's sting? # where, grave, thy victory? # i triumph still, if thou abide with me

we will now hear from relatives of some of those who were there, reminding us while wars are fought by armies, the suffering and courage belongs to individuals. my father volunteered in 1941 and served with the royal artillery in malaya until he was forced to singapore by the japanese, captured and sent to changi jail. you never talked about your captivity and what you experienced on hellfire pass. i know you just would have wanted to forget it all. only with the help of your now deceased comrade, tony lucas, have i found out what you endured and survived. today 75 years on from your release, i feel your suffering needs to be remembered by future generations, so it was not in vain. my uncle joseph ashiteye hammond

fought with the gold coast regiment of the royal west africa frontier force and in 1943 aged 18, he sailed all the way from ghana to india on the high seas to fight for our freedom. he told me this. "we fought ferociously against the japanese at the river irrawade town of pakkoku. it was a fearful and real battle where we chased them to cross the river at mabu. we lost six of our soldiers there. it was a sorrowful and difficult time." i am honoured to deliver this message in memory of my uncle's dear friends who died in this battle, and whom he was sad to leave behind in burma.