Banbury and Brackley remember on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day
16/08/2025
“There was no heroes welcome home for those men, they got off the troop ships back in England and got on, as best they could, with their lives”
Events in both Banbury and Brackley took place on Friday to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day – Victory over Japan Day – when hostilities in the far east officially finished at the end of the second world war.
In Banbury’s People’s Park a service of remembrance was held with a wreath laid by Banbury Town Mayor, Councillor Kieron Mallon. A number of military vehicles were on display in the park and people were encouraged to take along a picnic to enjoy whilst listening to music from the 1930s and 1940s.
Councillor Mallon said: “It is very important that Banbury held its Victory over Japan Day Commemorations. Local men joined our Banbury TA regiment, The Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars who are still based in Banbury at the Reserves Centre on the Oxford Rd. They were all captured at the fall of Singapore in 1942 and spent the rest of the war as Japanese prisoners of war, in atrocious conditions and used as slave labour.
“There was no heroes welcome home for those men, they got off the troop ships back in England and got on, as best they could, with their lives. Many of those men never fully recovered, mentally or physically, many never spoke of their treatment.
“They were called ‘The Forgotten Army’ Burma Star veterans who never received the recognition they deserved. Well, here in Banbury we still remember them, we are grateful for their sacrifice, and we commemorate their comrades who never returned home to our town”
Earlier, in Brackley members of the Royal British Legion held a short service outside Brackley Town Hall. Town Mayor Bernie Tiller placed a wreath at the war memorial.
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
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