‘We will never forget’: Charles delivers powerful VJ Day speech honouring Pacific war heroes

15 August 2025 , 08:11

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‘We will never forget’: Charles delivers powerful VJ Day speech honouring Pacific war heroes

King Charles has pledged that the sacrifice of Second World War heroes who died in the Pacific and Far East will never be forgotten on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.

This marks the anniversary of Japan’s surrender to the Allies following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, effectively ending the Second World War.

In an audio message to the nation and Commonwealth, Charles reflected on the horrors experienced by prisoners of war and innocent civilians, stating that ’their suffering reminds us that war’s true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life.’

The six-minute speech, recorded earlier this month, references the historic audio broadcast made by Charles’s grandfather King George VI.

He describes how the heroes of VJ Day ’gave us more than freedom; they left us the example of how it can and must be protected.’

This demonstrated 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.’

The message was released at 7:30 am today, ahead of a service of remembrance attended by the King and Queen, Second World War veterans, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Charles was pictured looking serious with his hands clasped as he sat at his desk at his London residence, Clarence House, with a microphone angled towards him as he prepared to read his address.

Friday’s televised service, broadcast live by the BBC, will pay tribute to all those who served in the Asia-Pacific theatre, including Burma Star recipients, British Indian Army veterans, former prisoners of war, and those who fought in pivotal battles including Kohima and Imphal in India.

The event, hosted by the Royal British Legion in partnership with the Government, will see the King and his wife leave floral tributes, as will other senior figures.

A national two-minute silence will conclude with an aerial display by the Red Arrows, and the service will draw to a close with a flypast by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, before the King and Queen attend a reception with Second World War veterans.

James Smith