Lest We Forget
[Picture by Nitesh Dave-Lest We Forget Blanket Donated to Friends of Evington and artistically embelished by The Knit and Natter Group at Eden Café]
A few weeks ago, we celebrated Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) with a street party in Main Street. Yesterday, 15th August, Ward Councillor Zuffar Haq led two minutes silence in honour of the fallen of World War II and the end of hostilities in the Pacific. The Gathering took place at the War Memorial on the corner of Main Street and Church Road, after which a cordial gathering at Eden Café was enjoyed.
(Picture by Nitesh Dave)
VJ Day as it is known, was so called after the term VE day was coined to signify the end of hostilities in Europe.
Victory over Japan Day (also known as VJ Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or VP Day) is the day on which Japan surrendered in World War II, thus bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on which the initial announcement of Japan’s surrender was made – 15 August 1945, in Japan, and because of time zone differences, 14 August 1945 (when it was announced in the United States and the rest of the Americas and Eastern Pacific Islands) – as well as to 2 September 1945, when the surrender document was signed, signifying the official end to World War II.
15 August is the official VJ Day for the United Kingdom, while the official US commemoration is 2 September.
On 2 September 1945, formal surrender occurred aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. In Japan, August 15 usually is known as the “memorial day” in remembrance of the end of the war”
VJ Day remains a significant historical event as it marks the conclusion of a devastating global war and transition into a period of peace and rebuilding. It serves to allow remembrance of those who lost their lives in the conflict and the sacrifices made by all of those affected by the war, but moreover, it also helps to focus our minds upon the importance of working for and maintaining peace between nations.
(Source: Wikipedia)
