On the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, as Syston's local MP Edward joined Syston's County Councillor Simon Bradshaw, representatives of the RBL, Syston Town Council, and many local residents at a short but very moving service held at the RBL Commemorative Stone outside St Peter and St Paul Church in Syston, to commemorate the day in 1945 when Imperial Japan surrendered, effectively ending the World War II. The Church also hosted a deeply thought-provoking exhibition commemorating local peoples' relatives who served in the Far East in WWII.
While sometimes referred to as the 'forgotten' war, the conflict in the Far East was every bit as important to the Allied victory as that in Europe, and those who served in that theatre did so in some of the most challenging physical and geographical conditions, and endured some of the fiercest and brutal fighting of the war.
Edward said: "It is right that we remember, and express our gratitude to all those who fought and died for our freedom in the war in the Far East, and also to remember those who fought and returned, but forever scarred physically or mentally by their experiences and what they had seen. Events like this bring the gratitude we owe them into sharper focus, and we should continue to show it in our support for our veterans, and those who serve today."
