good afternoon. the prince of wales has led commemorations for the 75th anniversary of vj day — when japan's surrender ended the second world war. prince charles joined veterans and military personnel for a service at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire. he paid tribute to the courage of those who fought, saying their service and sacrifice would "echo through the ages" and he remembered all those who lives were blighted by the conflict. nicholas witchell reports.

a piperat a piper at dawn aboard hms belfast marking the fact that 75 years ago this morning, the world of work, finally, to peace. in the open spaces finally, to peace. in the open s pa ces of finally, to peace. in the open spaces of the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire, a carefully choreographed commemoration attended by a0 vetera ns, commemoration attended by a0 veterans, who fought in the fourteenth army, sometimes the forgotten army, against a voracious enemy in some of the most challenging of conditions. many tens of thousands of allied troops from many different nations lost their lives in the jungles of southeast asia and tens of thousands more died in japanese prisoner of war camps. they shall grow not old, as we that are they shall grow not old, as we that a re left they shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. and the going down of the sun and in

the morning, we will remember them. after the sounding of the last post bya after the sounding of the last post by a royal marine, a two—minute silence was led by the prince of wales. and in remembrance of lives lost from so many nations, from the british, indian and other allied armies, wreaths were placed at memorials here and in many of the nations involved in the conflict.

today, in this hallowed place, and in the presence of all those gathered here or in their homes, wherever they may be, let us affirm that they and the surviving veterans are not forgotten. rather, you are respected, thanked, and cherished with all our hearts. and for all time. 75 years on, the forgotten army was remembered and its last survivors cherished. and john maguirejoins us from the national memorial arboreatum. john. yes, it was a very different memorial service, john. yes, it was a very different memorialservice, different to john. yes, it was a very different memorial service, different to what we normally expect to see at armistice day, remembrance day, so

none of the massed ranks, none of the large—scale none of the massed ranks, none of the la rge—scale bands, none of the massed ranks, none of the large—scale bands, the formalities perhaps that we would usually expect. that was a deliberate decision by the royal british legion to give this a different feel. it was inclusive, multinational, multicultural with representatives from many nations nick witchell talked about who fought against the japanese in the second world war. the memorial to the sumatra railway, not the granite and brass you normally expect. this is where the prime minister laid a wreath as part of the commemorations. talking to veterans, they felt they were moved, they thought about friends left behind so farfrom home. but, crucially, i think, what has taken a long time to appease, the fact that the fourteenth army who fought in burma and the far east, had always thought of itself as the forgotten army, well, today, once again, it is very

much being remembered. japan's emperor has expressed deep remorse for his country's wartime actions at a ceremony in tokyo. emperor naruhito expressed hope that the ravages of war would never be repeated, while japan's prime minister said his country had consistently valued peace. thousands of holidaymakers 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 in each. andy moore has the details. there were long queues at calais early this morning as people scrambled to get back to the uk ahead of the aam deadline. it is 2.a5 in the morning, 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. on one of the last ferries out of france, from dieppe, some exhausted travellers. i've been told that the ferry people know that we need to get to the uk before four o'clock. so we'll see you later. the ship docked in newhavenjust before the deadline. 3:58am in the uk. we are on land. fantastic. the airports are also busy with flights to the uk. and the queue just keeps going and going and going. this was nice last night. we've just boarded the plane, at about ten o'clock. been a really long, hard day. so many people at the airport. at gatwick airport this morning, some of the first passengers arriving back from france who will have to go into quarantine. we were five hours too

late for the quarantine, so now we all have to quarantine. my husband is losing money, for two weeks. it's ridiculous. we've been in a part of france that's got hardly any covid—i9, it feels really safe there as well. it feels like a very kind of broad brush stroke kind of measure. the passengers arriving here from france are going into a very strict form of self—isolation for two weeks. they won't be able to go out for exercise, they won't be able to walk the dog, any shopping will have to be brought to them. and the penalty for breaching those rules starts at £1000. andy moore, bbc news, gatwick airport. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee is at the channel port of dieppe in france. the rush to return from france seems to be over. on the ferries, whether it is airports, trains, eurotunnel, it is airports, trains, eurotunnel, it is airports, trains, eurotunnel,

it is calmer today but the major operators here and in dunkirk and calais say they are dealing with increased customer and putting on extra services. many people feeling they have to hurry back because of quarantine. i spoke to a family, 12 people said they tried to book online yesterday, claiming prices we re online yesterday, claiming prices were going up four flights and frustrated because they will have to quarantine. two haulage workers said they were confused and somebody tell them the borders might close and they were panicking coming from malaga. so story is increasing of those who missed the boat now having to quarantine. the government is to cover the cost of schools in england appealing against exam grades after 280,000 a—level students had their marks downgraded. 0ur political correspondent pete saull is with us. pete what is the timeline for this? the schools minister is now going to head upa the schools minister is now going to head up a task force and he says he hopes to iron out issues by the 7th

of september, the cut—off date for admissions into university but questions still swirling about the issue with the government very much sticking by the standardised system that saw many students predicted results downgraded. currently, schools have to foot the bill for any schools have to foot the bill for a ny u nsuccessful schools have to foot the bill for any unsuccessful appeals. the government will now pick up the bill for that, regardless of outcome. this row is not going away, certainly politically, the labour mayor of greater manchester is considering legal action and he says the system unfairly discriminates against young people from larger sixth forms, that tend to have more pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. i cannot stand by and see thousands of lives ruined across greater manchester. that is why it requires an urgent intervention and that is why i am considering the legal route. however the government points out there are more and more students

from those backgrounds going to university now. nick gibb will head up university now. nick gibb will head up the task force, one of the longest serving ministers in government, but i dare say he has not faced such a big challenge. and thursday is gcse results day. an easing of the lockdown takes place in england today, after being postponed from the 1st of august. businesses including soft play centres, casinos and bowling alleys can open, and indoor weddings with up to 30 guests are now permitted. but the changes don't apply in the areas under tighter local restrictions. vivienne nunis reports. newly lengthened lashes after a long wait. close contact beauty treatments are available again. and customers here were quick off the mark. so exciting, it's been like christmas eve, we are alljust so excited to get back to work, get back to doing what we love doing and making our clients happy with lashes and brows again. so we're just over the moon. since opening a couple of hours ago, this salon has already had five clients through the doors, and they're booked out for the rest of the day.

like so many other businesses, the team here are hoping to make back some of the money that's been lost over the past few months. bowling alleys are also opening today. this centre in north london will be disinfected between games, and closing off every second lane. the owner, hollywood bowl, furloughed nearly 2000 workers from its 61 sites during lockdown, but there were still bills to pay. and the company says it has burned through £10 million over the past five months. it's a challenge, and we're just really grateful now that we can start seeing some revenue coming in, and we can get our team back to work. also given the green light today, indoor weddings with up to 30 people. but the rule change comes as a blow for this man, whose venue in croydon usually caters for hundreds of guests, sometimes more than 1000. he's had to adapt to stay afloat. we've decided to turn one of our smaller suites into a restaurant,

to have some kind of income stream coming in. and so far, we think we've made the right choice. much of the economy is now trading again. but for many businesses, a return to normality is still a long way off. vivienne nunis, bbc news. the next news on bbc one is at 17:50. bye for now. good afternoon, it has been a dramatic last few days at least for some in the uk hello. you're watching the bbc news channel. let's stay with the 75th anniversary of vj day, which marks the surrender ofjapan and the end of the second world war. prince charles acknowledged the courage and fortitude of all those who had been part of the campaign. ladies and gentlemen, today, 75

yea rs ladies and gentlemen, today, 75 years after the hard—won victory over to renee, i am proud and humbled to be able to join you all in expressing my profound respect and admiration to the veterans and survivors of that interminable and terrible campaign —— terra name. above all, however, let us remember all those who never returned and who would never grow old. we pray that their stories will be passed on to their stories will be passed on to the generations of today and tomorrow, so that we can learn from their example. all too often, those who fought in the far east have been labelled the forgotten army in the forgotten war. many of the soldiers, nurses and other personnel felt

anger and disappointment at how they we re anger and disappointment at how they were treated when they finally returned home from a war which, from the public‘s point of view, had ended on the 8th of may 19a5. today, in this hallows place, and in the presence of all those gathered here 01’ presence of all those gathered here or in their homes or wherever they may be, let us affirm that they and the surviving veterans are not forgotten. rather, you are respected, thanked and cherished with all our hearts and for all time. we salute all those who remain among others and offer our most heartfelt and undying gratitude, to those who are gone before. your service and your sacrifice will echo

through the ages. as part of commemorations, imperial war museum's voices of war project has brought together the memories of the people who were there as hostilities ended. let's hear a clip now: vj day came, it was all over, everybody was on their way home. vj day came, it was all over, everybody was on their way homelj don't know, some people must have said the japanese surrendered and we didn't know the what day, we were not sure until we saw the british soldiers coming. just so excited. i'm joined now by dr alanjeffreys, senior curator at the imperial war museum. basically the project, samples from

the war museum sound archive... to cover people from different ages, genders backgrounds and nationalities. in order to give an idea what it was like vj day. the last person that spoke was a nurse who also ran a canteen in singapore, and she was actually arrested by the japanese and tortured in november 19a3 and kept in prison for 200 days. in the national history of singapore she is very much remembered as a war heroine we've been talking a lot in the last few hours about the war in the pacific arena as a forgotten war in the uk... why is it called the? in the

national consciousness, even at the time the wars in north west europe predominated. i think they really forgotten aspect is, in the 1ath army, there was 3a0,000 indian troops, 100,000 british troops and 80,000 african troops... i think the really forgotten aspect is the role of the indian and african troops in burma. can you tell is more about that? you'll make the indian army during the second world war was a volunteer army, amounting to over 2 million soldiers. they fought in a sleek, east africa, north africa and put only south—east asia... does that —— fighting in the disastrous

fall of singapore. also the longest defeat in the burma campaign. the indian army had the time to reorganise and train in india in 19a3 and 19aa the imperialjapanese army was decisively defeated and then the 1ath army under the leadership of a general defeated the japanese again in central burma in 19a5. that was fascinating, do the same in terms of the african troops, you said there were 80,000? for the african troops there was three divisions from east and west africa. as well as a brigade, i think... african troops to fight the 1ath army, but also fought in the arakan region... also alongside indian

troops. an awful place to fight. i think their role is even more forgotten... there's been a lot of academic studies about the role of the indian army and very few about the indian army and very few about the african troops in the burma campaign... 0ur correspondentjohn maguire is at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire, where today's commemorations are taking place. the ceremony ended a while ago now the dignitaries are members of the

royalfamily, prime the dignitaries are members of the royal family, prime minister, secretary of state have all departed, but there are still many people here wondering around. it is a very calm and peaceful, interesting and moving environment here at the national memorial arboretum and very fitting for a today's service. many veterans here talking to members of the media, each other, sharing stories. i'm delighted to see ted woodward is still with us here today. how are you getting on? tell me about what you getting on? tell me about what you thought of the service. where do you thought of the service. where do you want me to start? what did it make you think of? those quiet moments or moments of reflection, what were you thinking? mywife, she said she was going to rate my life

story because she thought it was very interesting because when i get talking you can't stop me and so many things have happened to me, i think why should they happen to me? the first thing i said, i didn't think i was when at last, then, in my survey life, i was a shop convener because my survey life, i was a shop convener because i my survey life, i was a shop convener because i could talk, that is why. obviously we are here today... the 75th anniversary. is why. obviously we are here today... the 75th anniversarylj is why. obviously we are here today... the 75th anniversary. i was called up. my dad, he was in a war at the turn of the century. he said to me, when the call you up, and tell them you want to go. i don't

wa nt tell them you want to go. i don't want to go in the air force i want to go in that was the first time when i was in the army, i was in the hospital because my mother had never vaccinated me. so i was vaccinated in the army, i had fever. we may need to miss a chunk outcome if you don't mind, tell us about the far east? the far east, the first time we went i was in the 26 brigade of the 36 britihs division, the only british division in...

off we went, and we landed. a range of hills were in the middle of us it was the 14th army... 0ver the hills, you look down on the seventh division was completely surrounded by the japanese. we had to fight for weeks. i was attached to fight for weeks. i was attached to the riaa, so me, as usual, sent up to the riaa, so me, as usual, sent up to guard the guns. i was up there

and this hill, stuck there for three days and we just sent 25 soldiers over to the japanese. you can see the way they had formed the square... you can the way they had formed the square... you can see the way they had formed the square... you can see them —— you could see them. that was the first experience.

it was called at the border. —— cold. i was going to ashley about the conditions. the conditions, apart from the fact we had the japanese after us, and they would get at you when you were asleep, in the dugouts, the main thing was, in burma, the conditions. spider is as big as that. snakes... all kinds of insects, scorpions, everything was there. in thejungle? when i

arrived, we wasn't in action until we got back in 1944, i think. we got there, and there is nothing really happening. we were in touch with them.

that was ok. we were stuck out again and then came back out of their goal... they said to me, i was posted out of the unit. i went on the railway line... they said we'd catch one of them and we landed at brigade hk 36 division, we landed at brigade hk 36 division, we still waited, what are we going to do? i hate to interact but we are running a little short of time. ——

enter up to you. —— interrupt you. i spent it with the yanks.

the weather has been counters saturday in dull and drizzly day. thunderstorms in the forecast. some centring around and pleasa ntly warm forecast. some centring around and pleasantly warm weather across northern wales in the north west of england. south—western scotland and the western isles too. it is certainly not cloudy everywhere. the temperatures are typically in the low 20s but a lot cooler and in our seacoast. thunderstorms possible across the southern part of the uk across today and tonight. a very muggy night. 18 degrees in london. showers expected tomorrow. the possibility of thunderstorms, possibly the heaviest across more southern areas. thunderstorms, possibly the heaviest across more southern areas. a little brightness possible but on the whole a lot of cloud the uk.

0bama hello this is bbc news. the headlines... prince charles leads commemorations at the national memorial arboretum to mark the 75th anniversary of vj day — the day world war ii ended with victory over japan. we will remember them... the uk prime minister, borisjohnson, thanked those who fought for restoring "peace and prosperity". in tokyo, a solemn ceremony — japan's emperor naruhito expresses deep remorse for his country's past military actions. in other news, new quarantine rules come into effect in the uk — as countries across europe continue to fight the spread of covid—19. more protests take place in belarus over last weekend's disputed election — despite president lukashenko