The Royal Naval Association attended the VJ Day Commemoration Service at the WW2 Memorial in the Peace Garden, Aycoughfee Hall, Spalding. Our guest of honour was shipmate Charles Giles at the ripe old age of 103. Shipmate Giles served in the Pacific Fleet and was present when the Japanese surrendered. Please find below my speech that I was honoured to give.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Before I start, I would like to take this opportunity of welcoming our special guest today, Shipmate Charles Giles. Charles served in the Pacific and was present when the Japanese surrendered. It is an honour, Sir, for me to welcome you, on behalf of the Spalding Royal Naval Association, to this commemoration of VJ Day.
Why is the Spalding Branch of the Royal Naval Association, under the Chairmanship of Shipmate, Richard Brown, here today? Why should we be remembering what happened in the Pacific all those years ago?
Thank you for allowing me a few moments to speak today on a subject that is deeply personal to many of us who have worn the uniform of the Royal Navy. As we gather here, 80 years on from the end of the Second World War in the Pacific, it is fitting that we pause to reflect on the sacrifices, the suffering, and the sheer determination of those who served in that vast and brutal theatre of war.
When we think of the Second World War, our thoughts often turn first to the beaches of Normandy, to the Blitz, or to the deserts of North Africa. But it is crucial that we do not forget the long and punishing campaign fought thousands of miles from home – in the jungles, seas, and skies of the Pacific. There, Royal Navy personnel served with honour and distinction, often under the most extreme and harrowing conditions imaginable.
The Pacific theatre was a war of extremes. Scorching heat, dense jungles, monsoons, disease, and unrelenting enemy action defined the daily lives of those who served. The Royal Navy’s Eastern Fleet, and later the British Pacific Fleet, played a vital role in the effort to defeat Japanese forces and liberate occupied territories. Sailors, airmen, and marines operated alongside our American, Australian, and Commonwealth allies across a theatre that stretched across half the globe.
Our ships, from carriers to cruisers, faced relentless kamikaze attacks and fierce resistance at sea. On the ground, Royal Marines fought in some of the toughest conditions known to man, pushing through enemy-held islands, inch by inch. Many of those men never came home.
The losses were heavy. Over 12,000 British service personnel died in the war against Japan, many of them in the Royal Navy. Countless others were wounded, physically and mentally scarred by what they had seen and endured. And for those captured, particularly at the fall of Singapore and other strongholds, the suffering was beyond words. Held as prisoners of war, they faced starvation, beatings, forced labour, and appalling cruelty at the hands of their captors. Some endured years of captivity before finally being freed.
We remember them today not only for their courage, but for their endurance, their loyalty to their comrades, and their quiet determination in the face of unimaginable adversity.
Eighty years may have passed, but the legacy of their service remains with us. It is our duty to ensure that their stories are not lost to time. We must tell the next generation of the price that was paid in the Pacific, not only to end a war, but to uphold the values of freedom, dignity, and peace.
To those who served in the Pacific, we owe more than gratitude. We owe remembrance, respect, and the promise that their sacrifice will never be forgotten.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
Thank you.