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Petition government for To Establish a national day commemorating the significance of 15th August
CharltonKerry
Posts: 2,960
I don’t post on here very often, so apologies for disturbing you all 😀.
My father out in Burma and I have told on here a very little of what he got up, he had a horrendous war, fighting behind the Japanese line of the majority of that time, he reckoned he was lucky, he was not captured. I won’t go into the details, but I will say he had nightmares until the day he died. Anyway the petition is to Establish a national day commemorating the significance of 15th August 1945, which is coincidentally VJ Day.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/236760
If anybody feel willing to sign it then please do, if you can advertise it more in any media, feel free, these were extremely brave men and women, some came back, many others didn’t. Thank you, Kerry
My father out in Burma and I have told on here a very little of what he got up, he had a horrendous war, fighting behind the Japanese line of the majority of that time, he reckoned he was lucky, he was not captured. I won’t go into the details, but I will say he had nightmares until the day he died. Anyway the petition is to Establish a national day commemorating the significance of 15th August 1945, which is coincidentally VJ Day.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/236760
If anybody feel willing to sign it then please do, if you can advertise it more in any media, feel free, these were extremely brave men and women, some came back, many others didn’t. Thank you, Kerry
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Done2
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My father was also posted to Burma. Not captured, not fought behind enemy lines either.
He wasn't very forthcoming beyond telling of time training in India and the scramble for a decent hammock on the troopships.3 -
PS Done.1
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Agree VJ day should be commemorated, not sure what the current arrangements are if any?
Reminders of the mistakes of the past and importantly the sacrifices made by previous generations should never be forgotten.2 -
Done1
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Done1
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A great cause, but, it's really going to struggle to get signatures- both your post on here and the description on the petitions website fail to mention what the significance of that date is. I only know it's VJ day because Razil mentioned it in his response, other than that it just looked like a random date, which of course is the problem you're wanting to address3
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Done1
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Agree, I wasn’t involved in the wording of the petition and certainly it’s a weakness, it also doesn’t mention the people who fought and weren’t captured like my father, certainly the petition could have been worded better. I will edit my post to reflect your input, Thanks.rina said:A great cause, but, it's really going to struggle to get signatures- both your post on here and the description on the petitions website fail to mention what the significance of that date is. I only know it's VJ day because Razil mentioned it in his response, other than that it just looked like a random date, which of course is the problem you're wanting to address1 -
Done.
Recommended read is the Naked Island by Russell Braddon tells the story of an Australian gunner who fought and was then taken prisoner by the Japanese on his 21st Birthday.1 - Sponsored links:
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My father fought a lot with the Australians, hence my first name of Kerry ☹️. Read a lot of the books, but I can’t remember that one, will have a look for it.0
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Done!!... My Great Uncle who really is in the winter of his life now served in the Far East with the Engineers.
Was given his service medals (at his request) when they got located a few years back, something I'll never even consider letting go1 -
Done.
My father also saw action in Burma.2 -
Done
And certainly should have its own National Day to commemorate1 -
Done. I remember speaking to you offline about this a few years ago @CharltonKerry my grandad was a royal engineer in Burma as well (and was born in Japan) and didn't fight, but saw enough horror to haunt him forever
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Done.1
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My father was certainly an engineer, hence his expertise in blowing things up and then rebuilding them, apparently his real speciality was destroying train as they crossed bridges, him and his little band were wanted men for a long while. He said it was really boring for 99.9% of the time, but the other .1 made it interesting. His biggest fear was walking into friendly villages as sometime they weren’t. His first experience of the atrocities was the first day they landed off the troopship, they marched to a hospital run by nuns, to see all the nuns had been crucified and the wounded soldier had been bayoneted. They never took prisoners, but that was mainly because of what they were up to, and they had no way of getting them back behind there lines, mainly because they had no idea were there lines were.
When they run out of food they eat the mules, which upset them terribly as they then had to carry everything, some locals were kind and gave them food and shelter, others were not.
Thanks for all your support, the numbers are slowly rising, be great if this can be spread around social media. It’s also a local thing as a lot from Kent and South East London fought out there.7 -
Done
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My Dads Burma Star is my most treasured possession, The 14th and forgotten! Brave lads ALL of them.1
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Thanks Norman, my daughters getting it as a Christmas present from my grandkids, I got 11 books to get through before then 😀Norman_Smith said:Done.
Recommended read is the Naked Island by Russell Braddon tells the story of an Australian gunner who fought and was then taken prisoner by the Japanese on his 21st Birthday.1 - Sponsored links:
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Just dug up my grandfather's memoirs. Not much about Burma (he spent longer in India) but said he spent the time after Churchill's victory speech on the radio cowering in a slit trench in the harbour from a Japanese air strike, that actually turned out to be the royal navy celebrating1
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Just signed the petition.
My dad was in the RAF based in Calcutta.
He was in an aerial reconnaissance unit flying sorties over Burma and Indochina. He was lucky in that he was ground crew, trained to plot the photos onto maps for the bombers.
The reconnaissance crews were incredibly brave in that they flew stripped down Spitfires and Mosquitoes without weaponry, relying solely on speed to evade the Japanese. The planes were stripped down to increase speed and range and also because the cameras were so heavy.
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Yes Catfordmorry, I read about those pilots, they didn’t last that long and the chances of survival if shot down wasn’t great as it was all jungle, another group of brave lads.catfordmorry said:Just signed the petition.
My dad was in the RAF based in Calcutta.
He was in an aerial reconnaissance unit flying sorties over Burma and Indochina. He was lucky in that he was ground crew, trained to plot the photos onto maps for the bombers.
The reconnaissance crews were incredibly brave in that they flew stripped down Spitfires and Mosquitoes without weaponry, relying solely on speed to evade the Japanese. The planes were stripped down to increase speed and range and also because the cameras were so heavy.1 -
You must know some very different Chinese people than I do, apart from some anime and hello kitty almost everyone I know despises the Japanese.JessieAddick said:As a Chinese I learned at school that August 15, 1945 was the day that Japan surrendered. I've always remembered that. Unfortunately I don't think many Chinese people know about or remember it these days.
Today many Chinese people like Japan and its people (some are even obsessed with their culture). I'm just the opposite. What I learned when I was around 10 about the WWII and what the Japanese armies did is something I simply can not forget. Japan's right-wing-ish approach and attitude towards WWII even today is part of the reason I'll never ever like this country.
This is a great cause and hope it raises the awareness in the UK. Respect to all those that fought against Japan in the war. True heroes.
I never really understood the hatred until I visited the massacre museum in Nanjing, it's one of those places that really changed my life.
The fact that they still deny it happened and refuse to apologise simply highlights when a twisted messed up nation they are.5 -
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Just signed the petition,
My Dad is still with us, and only gave up his season ticket at the valley 2 years ago.
From the age of just 17 he joined the Navy and Scapa flow in the Orkneys was his destination. Being a young Carpenter he helped make targets for Practice and when the USA entered the war he was on a tugboat that moved the target into range.
The Tugboat then went to a safe distance !
Not far enough for the USA navy and their ability for friendly fire mishaps, nearly died from the freezing cold water BUT did get a humungus steak as a peace offering when rescued !
Singapore and the HMS Nelson was Dad's destination and he went to reunions for years until he was the last man standing at Portsmouth. Even about 10 years ago he and my mum went out to Singapore and a reef was thrown in the sea for the fallen.
August 15th is also my Dad's Birthday so VJ day was his 21st birthday !4 -
If I’m remembering my history correctly and it been a long while since I read about the Chinese involvement. The Chinese army had quiet an influence on the strategy in that area, it was the threat that they would get involved which gave the British the time to regroup (plus the rainy season) around Imphal and Kohima, which were the two Japanese defeats that ultimately lead to the rout of the Japanese army, by the Australian and British forces ok and Americans but my father swore blind he never saw a single American all the time he was out there. It was helped by the fact the Japanese over stretched their lines of communication and supplies and were being constantly hurried by various splinter groups who basically melted into the jungle and disrupted their attempts to reinforce their army, this is what my father was doing most of the time, other than he was lying about in hospital 😀 as he put it.
Sorry if my memory is failing me and the truth is slightly different as you say these were all extremely brave people, my mum used to write to my dad every week, he used to receive bundles of letter (not all of them) every 6 months to a year, one off the first letters he received was to tell him he was a father, he received that 9 months after my brother was born. He had no idea if my mum and his new born son was alive, they were living in Dartford which was very heavily bombed during the war because of the armament factories and the fact it was the German side of London so if the bombers couldn’t reach London, Dartford was targeted, it was also hit badly by doodlebugs later in the war. Actually that reminds me that my families claim to fame is that my brother slept with the world famous Keith Richards yes of the Rolling Stones fame, they were put in the same pram outside the local co op to sleep whilst my and Keith mum worked inside. Sorry @JessieAddick rather drifted off track, but I hope you enjoyed It.3 -
Anyone here have a relative who was a Chindit?0
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My father wasn’t a Chindit although he did very similar work but in much smaller numbers, with the help of locals and his great hero’s the Gherkas. The Chindits were an extremely brave bunch of hero’s.SoundAsa£ said:Anyone here have a relative who was a Chindit?0 -
Done, it does seem strange that we celebrate a day when the battle on our doorstop ended but not when the hostilities actually ended.0
