Weymouth to host livestreamed service to commemorate 75th Anniversary of VJ Day
Weymouth Town Council and Nothe Fort are to hold a special commemorative event to recognise the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day on Saturday 15th August. The Service of Commemoration will be led by the Mayor of Weymouth and supported by local veterans, The 1st Bn The Dorsetshire Regiment LHA, and key service staff.
To ensure compliance with coronavirus mass gathering restrictions, the service will not be open to the public. However, members of the public can watch it live on Weymouth Town Council’s and Nothe Fort’s Facebook pages from 10.50am.
Cllr Graham Winter, Mayor of Weymouth Town Council, said:
“I am pleased that by working with Nothe Fort we are able to host this important anniversary event to recognise and remember what is often termed as ‘the forgotten army’. It is very disappointing that we are unable to invite everybody to this service, but we look forward to working with many veteran associations and friends and continuing this fine Weymouth tradition in the future”.
James Farquharson, Chairman at Nothe Fort said:
“It’s very important that Weymouth continues to honour the memory of servicemen on occasions like VJ Day. Nothe Fort is an appropriate military setting and enables relatively small groups of people to share the occasion with full Covid safety. Weymouth Town Council was keen to mark VJ Day and we were delighted to be able to help them.”
The Nothe Fort is now open to the public 11am to 4pm daily. The VJ Day service will conclude at approximately 11.15am, after which visitors can enjoy VJ Day themed activities from a safe social distance featuring the 1st Bn The Dorsetshire Regiment LHA, a living history group.
While VE Day (Victory in Europe) in May 1945 marked the end of the World War in Europe, many thousands of armed forces personnel were still engaged in bitter fighting in the Far East. Victory over Japan on 15th August 1945 came at a heavy price. This year’s Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) ceremony marks the 75th anniversary of the day Japan surrendered, which in effect ended the Second World War.
For further details on this event please contact Weymouth Town Council Promotions and Events Officer Steve Davies at stevedavies@weymouthtowncouncil.gov.uk or James Farquharson of Nothe Fort at chairman@nothefort.org.uk.