Queen to lead VJ Day 70th anniversary

The Queen is to lead events to mark the 70th anniversary of VJ Day, when Japan surrendered and World War Two ended.

She and the Duke of Edinburgh will join the Prime Minister and former prisoners of war at a remembrance service at St Martin’s in the Field church in London.

A service will also be held in Horse Guard’s Parade, followed by a flypast and march by veterans of the Far East, reports the BBC.

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe marked the date by expressing “profound grief” at his country’s actions in WW2.

Although fighting in Europe ended in May 1945, the battle between the Allies and Japan continued.

It was only after two atomic bombs were dropped on the country that the Japanese surrendered on August 15 that year.

The service at St Martin’s in the Field will recall the estimated 71,000 British and Commonwealth casualties of the war against Japan, including more than 12,000 prisoners of war who died in Japanese captivity.

The last post will be sounded and a piper’s lament played as wreaths are laid at the church’s memorial to Far Eastern Prisoners of War.

Later, in Horse Guards Parade, there will be a fly-past of WW2 aircraft, attended by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

The service will include a reading of The Road to Mandalay, a poem which inspired a marching tune used by the 14th Army while fighting in Burma, now known as Myanmar.

Veterans and civilian prisoners will then parade down Whitehall accompanied by marching bands to a reception in the grounds of Westminster Abbey.