Petition establish a national day commemorating the significance of 15th August 1945 VJ Day 12 June 2019 at 9:42PM in UK armed forces MoneySaving 10 replies 12.5K views

margf

Commemoration of VJ Day

A petition has been started to establish a national day commemorating the significance of 15th August 1945.

Thousands of servicemen were held as Far East prisoners of war from 1941-1945, caught up in a conflict that endured long after the celebrations for VE Day. The contribution of those who had the misfortune to be held as pows, many of whom did not survive, deserves to be remembered nationally.

We really need more signatures (10,000 by 17th July) to ensure a response from the Government. We have about 6,900 so far so it could be do-able with your help

The petition can be found on the link below

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/236760

Thank you

bertha

Signed. Please sign to ensure these men and the suffering they endured will always be remembered

margf

A huge thanks to everyone that has signed the petition. This means so much to me as my father was one of nearly 1 million men from Britain and Commonwealth countries whose war did not end until the 15th August 1945, and for many, the physical and mental scars of this most horrendous war, lived with them and affected them for the remainder of their lives. In effect, their war was never over.
The petition now has over 7500 signatures so around 2500 still required.

L-J-R

Signed - looks like it's exceeded the minimum needed

margf

L-J-R wrote: »

Signed - looks like it's exceeded the minimum needed

Thanks yes it has but we are continuing to promote it to raise awareness.

Please continue to sign and share, we owe them.

Andy_L

Reply up

Summary: We have VJ day as a national day of commemoration already. We had a load of special stuff on the 70th anniversary & we will do the same next year for the 75th. Its on a Sunday & no chance of getting an extra bank holiday for it

margf

Andy_L wrote: »

Reply up

Summary: We have VJ day as a national day of commemoration already. We had a load of special stuff on the 70th anniversary & we will do the same next year for the 75th. Its on a Sunday & no chance of getting an extra bank holiday for it

The petition at no time mentioned or implied we were looking to achieve another bank holiday or for commemoration in 2020 alone.
From the response it would appear they have either not read the petition or have made incorrect assumptions.
I and several others have contacted the petitions department who have advised to write my MP and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy who responded to this petition.

Andy_L

margf wrote: »

The petition at no time mentioned or implied we were looking to achieve another bank holiday or for commemoration in 2020 alone.
From the response it would appear they have either not read the petition or have made incorrect assumptions.
I and several others have contacted the petitions department who have advised to write my MP and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy who responded to this petition.

So what do you want seeing as how VJ day already is "a national day commemorating the significance of 15th August 1945."?

margf

Apologies for the delay in relying Andy.
VJ Day has never had a national day established commemorating the significance of 15th August 1945. I know its hard to believe, as this brought the end to WW11

The campaign is attempting to achieve this and has cross party support I am pleased to report.

Today is the last day for signing, thanks for all the support.
For anyone who has not signed please take a look at the petition here.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/236760

Robert Halfon MP has also raised an EDM here https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/52966/national-day-of-commemoration-for-servicemen-held-as-prisoners-of-war-by-japan-from-1941-to-1945

Andy_L

I'm not really understanding in what way VJ day is not a "national day". Does the term have some specific legal/political significance?

The EDM, like the petition doesn't clearly & unambiguously state what you want/mean by a national day, which is why you were chinned-off by the DTI's response & why the EDM will suffer the same fate with, probably, the defense Sec, droning on about how "The Government values VJ Day commemorations as an opportunity for the nation to show their gratitude..blah blah blah"

badmemory

Signed a couple of days ago but did not want to sidetrack the thread by bringing up the situation of other veterans at that time. I find it very concerning that veterans of NI are being charged with offenses which happened many many years ago whilst the terrorists of that time have been given a letter which gives them a free ride. And do not let us mention the validity of the so called evidence against them. Do we really feel that it is right to send over 70s to prison for obeying the orders of their so-called superior officers & following the often dodgy info given to them?



Can any of us seriously say that being told that there was, for example, a houseful of dodgy people at a certain house that are armed to the gills, that we would not have gone in with our fingers on the trigger? If they are going to charge anyone it should be the people who sent them in.