A message from His Majesty The King on the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day

For the millions of families gathered around their wireless sets, and for their loved ones still serving far from home, it was the message a battle-weary world had long prayed for. ‘The war is over’, declared my Grandfather, King George VI, in his address to the nation and Commonwealth on V.J. Day eighty years ago today – four short words after six long years of bloodshed, fear and suffering. Seldom can a simple message have resonated with such a potent mix of relief, celebration, and sorrow for those who never lived to see the glow of freedom’s new dawn.  

On this day of profound remembrance, I speak to you in that same spirit of commemoration and celebration as we honour anew all those whose service and sacrifice saw the forces of liberty prevail. 

While that final victory in The Pacific was achieved under the strategic command of our steadfast American allies, the war in South East Asia had reached its climax under the leadership of my great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, from whom I learned so much about the particular horrors and heroism witnessed in those furthest fields of combat. The forces aligned under him comprised over one million men and women, drawn from many different countries, religions and communities, but united by common purpose and indomitable spirit. Twenty Nine Victoria Crosses bear eloquent testimony to their valour, but I know full well of the toll it took on so many - measured not only in gravestones, but in the mental and physical scars of those who survived.

Despite the unyielding support of their devoted battlefield commander, General William Slim, the forces on the ground sometimes considered themselves ‘the Forgotten Army’. But, as Patron of the now Burma Star Memorial Fund, and having attended one of the great Burma Star Reunions at the Albert Hall with Lord Mountbatten when the Hall was filled with thousands of bemedalled veterans, it has been my privilege to reassure the remaining veterans that they and their fallen comrades shall never be forgotten. 

Nor are they alone in our thoughts today for, high above those monsoon-lashed jungles Allied pilots displayed their own fearless bravery, flying fighters, bombers and transport aircraft into enemy fire and Nature's fury.

We recall, too, the prisoners of war who endured years of brutal captivity: the starvation, disease and cruelty that tested the very limits of human endurance. Innocent civilian populations of occupied territories faced grievous hardships, too. Their experience reminds us that war's true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life – a tragedy all-too vividly demonstrated by conflicts around the world today.  

On this landmark anniversary, we should also pause to acknowledge that in the war’s final act, an immense price was paid by the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – a price we pray no nation need ever pay again.  

But in recalling so much suffering, we must not lose sight of how great was the cause and how sweet the victory. For those heroes of V.J. Day gave us more than freedom; they left us the example of how it can and must be protected. 

Countries and communities that had never before fought together learned to co-ordinate their efforts across vast distances, faiths and cultural divides. Together 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 link. That remains a vital lesson for our times. 

So to the families of all those who served, and to that sadly dwindling band of veterans among us still, please know that the courage and camaraderie displayed in humanity's darkest hour is a flame that shall blaze for eternity – a beacon that honours our past and guides our future.  

Let us therefore pledge to be vigilant guardians of the values they bequeathed to us. And let us, above all, remember the epitaph in the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery on the battlefield of Kohima: 'When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today'.