The 80th anniversary of VJ Day - when Japan surrendered to Allied forces, ending the Second World War - has been marked with a commemorative service at Ashfield District Council's Urban Road headquarters.

Council Chairman Cllr Paul Grafton and Chief Executive Theresa Hodgkinson were joined by elected members, civic guests, ex-forces veterans and ADC colleagues, at the event which remembered the sacrifice of more 90,000 British and Commonwealth troops who were casualties in the war against Japan. A total of 30,000 died and 37,500 were held as prisoners of war.

For months after VE Day on 8 May 1945 war continued to wage in the Asia-Pacific region and only came to an end after 2 atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

For hundreds of thousands of service personnel from Britain and the Commonwealth, it would take many months to be reunited with loved ones, some of whom they hadn’t seen for more than 5 years.

At the service Cllr Grafton paid tribute to all those who served in the Far East saying we owed them a debt that can never be repaid.

CEO Theresa Hodgkinson read a VJ Day poem written by Patricia Newman while Cllr David Waters, armed forces champion, gave a historical reading.

The service ended with Edwina Morris, chairman of the Kirkby in Ashfield branch of the Royal British Legion, giving the act of homage:

'They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.'

Afterwards, a VJ Day flag was raised outside our HQ.

Posted on 03 September 2025