28 VJ Day war heroes - faces of veterans honoured today at emotional memorial with King at National Arboretum in Staffordshire

Charles, patron of the Royal British Legion, Camilla, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were attending the event which honours British, Commonwealth and Allied veterans who served in the Far East theatres of war including Myanmar and the Pacific and Indian Ocean territories.

Around 1,500 guests will hear first-hand testimony from veterans who experienced conflict in the Far East before the war ended when atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan’s surrender and VJ Day on August 15 1945.

The service was beginning with a national two-minute silence and include flypasts by the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster – with military bagpipers playing at dawn in the Far East section of the Arboretum.

Many of the veterans at the arboretum in Alrewas have never told their story before registering with the RBL to be part of commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory Over Japan.

Veterans attending the event served in the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, with roles ranging from those deployed on submarines, minesweepers and destroyers, to a Spitfire pilot and a combat cameraman.

Bill Redston, 100, from Tettenhall, Wolverhampton,  joined the Royal Navy when he was 18. He said  he was  proud of his involvement in D-Day which he called "the top occasion" having spent four years in the navy during World War Two. 

He had been due to guide US soldiers on to Utah Beach during the landings but the Americans wanted their own ship to lead them in and Mr Redston's crew was instead tasked with bringing barges over the Channel.

They later found out the replacement ship had been sunk with its crew suffering many casualties.

After D-Day, Mr Redston and his comrades were sent to patrol in Burma in the same motor boat until the end of the war when Japanese forces surrendered 80 years ago today.

"So all in all in my eyes I had a very interesting dealing both with Europe and the Far East," he said.

The oldest veterans are Yavar Abbas and Owen Filer, aged 105, and other attendees include two of the last surviving Chindits – Charlie Richards, 104, and Sid Machin, 101 – who served in the elite Special Forces unit known for their deep jungle warfare tactics as part of Operation Thursday.

Mr Richards, from Northamptonshire – who served in the 7th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment, spent months behind enemy lines ambushing Japanese supplies and communications, all while pulling along reluctant mules and heavy equipment.

The 104-year-old said: “I am so proud to attend the RBL’s national event, and I think it will be a really poignant moment for those of us left.

“I want to represent all those who saw action in the Far East and remember those who never made it home, including my best friend and comrade, Son Johnson, who was killed in action in Burma. It will be such a special day for me and my family.”

Joseph Hammond, 100, whose testimony will be shared during the service, will be watching the live broadcast from his home in Ghana 3,000 miles away.

Mr Hammond fought in Burma in the 82nd Division in brutal conditions near the Irrawaddy River and suffered a serious eye injury and remained in hospital until the war ended.

In 2020, he walked 14 miles over seven days to raise £500,000 for frontline workers and veterans during the Covid pandemic.

Mr Hammond said: “Why should such a thing happen? Man killing his fellow man. Humanity, destroying humanity. Never allow your country to go that way. It’s no good. I know how it feels, so I have to advise everybody to keep away from war. Let us continue to enjoy our peace.”

Mark Atkinson, Director General of the Royal British Legion, said: “It is an enormous privilege for the RBL to be leading the nation on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day with our service of remembrance at National Memorial Arboretum broadcast live on BBC One.

“Victory over Japan would not have been possible without the diverse contribution of Allied Forces from Britain, the Commonwealth and beyond, and this is one of our last chances to thank veterans who fought in the Far East and Pacific for their service and sacrifice.

“Their contribution brought an end to the Second World War and this is a moment for the country to come together and commemorate this momentous anniversary and pay tribute to their courage and bravery.”

Around five million men and women served in the British Armed Forces during the Second World War, with millions more mobilised from countries including pre-partition India, Australia, Canada, and across the Commonwealth including African and Caribbean nations.