00:00For the millions of families gathered around their wireless seats, and for their loved
00:07ones still serving far from home, it was the message a battle-weary world had long prayed
00:14for.
00:15The war is over, declared my grandpa, in George VI, in his address to the nation in Pomeroy
00:22on VJ Day eighty years ago today.
00:27Four short words after six long years of bloodshed, clear and suffering.
00:35Selen can a simple message that resonates with such a potent mix of relief, celebration
00:44and sorrow for those who never lived to see the glow of freedom's new dawn.
00:51On this day of profound remembrance, I speak to you in that same spirit of conglomeration
01:00and celebration, as we honour in you all those whose service and sacrifice saw the forces
01:08of liberty prevail.
01:09While that kind of victory in the Pacific was achieved under the strategic command of our
01:18steadfast American allies, the war in South East Asia had reached its climax under the leadership
01:25of my great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, from whom I learned so much about the particular horrors
01:32and heroism witnessed in those glorious fields of combat.
01:38The forces aligned under him comprised over one million men and women, drawn from many different
01:51countries, religions and communities, but united by common purpose and impermissible spirit.
01:57Twenty-nine Victoria Crosses were an eloquent testimony to their valour.
02:06But I know full well of the tone it took on so many, measured not only in gravestone but
02:16in the mental and physical scars of those who survived.
02:20Despite the unyielding support of their devoted battlefield commander, General William Finn,
02:28the forces on the ground sometimes considered themselves the Forgotten Army.
02:35But as patron of the now Burma Star Memorial Fund, and having attended one of the great Burma
02:43star reunions at the Albert Hall with Lord Mountbatten, when the Hall was filled with thousands
02:50of the metal veterans, it has been my privilege to reassure the remaining veterans that their
02:59and their fallen comrades shall never be forgotten.
03:04Nor are we unknown in our thoughts today, for high above those monsoon-lashed jungles, our
03:11army pilots displayed their own furious bravery, flying rifles, bombers and transport aircraft
03:19into enemy fire and nature's fury.
03:24We recall too the prisoners of war who endured years of brutal captivity, the starvation, disease
03:32and cruelty that persisted with any limits of human endurance.
03:38Immigrant civilian populations of occupied territories face grievers' hardships too.
03:45Their experience reminds us that war's true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life.
03:55A tragedy all too vividly demonstrated by conflicts around the world today.
04:02On this landmark anniversary, we should also cause to acknowledge that in the war's final act, an immense price was paid by the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
04:17A price, we pray, no nation need ever pay again.
04:24But in recalling so much suffering, we must not lose sight of how great was the cause and how sweet the victory.
04:34For those years of VJJ gave us more than freedom.
04:39They left us the example of how it can and must be protected.
04:46Cultures and communities that had never before fought together learned to coordinate their efforts across vast distances, faiths and cultural divides.
04:57Together they proved that in times of war and in times of peace, the greatest weapons of all are not the arms you bear but the arms you lick.
05:12That remains a vital lesson for our times.
05:16So, to the families of all those you've served, and to that sadly dwindling bound of veterans among us still, please know that the courage and camaraderie displayed in humanity's darkest hour is a flame that shall blaze to eternity, a beacon that honours our past and guides our future.
05:43Let us therefore pledge to be vigilant guardians of the values they decreed to us.
05:50And let us, above all, remember the epitaph in the Commonwealth Wargrave Cemetery on the battlefield of Kohima.
06:02When you go home, tell them of us, and say,
06:08For your tomorrow we gain our today.
Comments