VJ Day, 70th Anniversary

Today is the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory over Japan. While the War in Europe against Germany had ended in May, the War in the East carried on until 15th August 1945. While millions in Britain celebrated the Victory against the Nazis, British forces were still engaged in bitter fighting with Japan.

This anniversary provides an opportunity to remember all those who lost their lives in the Far East; in campaigns that were often overshadowed by the war fought in Europe. It also gives an opportunity to remember all those men and women who had been prisoners of war under the Japanese, thousands of whom suffered terrible cruelties at the hands of their captors. We must also not forget those men who returned from the War in the East – many denied by time the heroes welcome they deserved.

It was a sad coincidence that, in the days leading up to this anniversary, we learned of the death of Mr Frank Nicholson, a veteran of the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) who served in Burma and with the Chindits. We are grateful for the fantastic photographs and other material from Mr Nicholson’s service in the Regiment that he bequeathed to the museum collection. We will be adding more of Mr Nicholson’s material to the blog in due course, where I am sure it will be appreciated by many viewers all over the world.

Frank Nicholson, on the right

Frank had been serving with the 1st Battalion Cameronians when the Japanese forces surrendered. His photographs from this time show Cameronian soldiers guarding their Japanese prisoners; a stark contrast to the images seen of British prisoners under the Japanese following the fall of Singapore.

A Cameronian soldier stands guard as a queue of Japanese prisoners await processing.

While this website and blog focuses on the regimental collections of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), we feel it only appropriate to acknowledge how significant today’s anniversary is to the families and friends of those soldiers of The Lanarkshire Yeomanry who suffered so terribly in the Far East. The men of the 155th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, fell into the captivity of the Japanese with the fall of Singapore on 15th February 1942. For the remainder of the War these men endured unimaginable hardships and treatment at the hands of their captors. For more information on the Lanarkshire Yeomanry’s service in the Second World War, please take the time to visit the Lanarkshire Yeomanry Group website – http://www.lanarkshireyeomanry.com/

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