LONDON (AP) – Queen Elizabeth II led ceremonies in Britain on Saturday marking the 70th anniversary of the victory over Japan during World War II.
The monarch and other members of the royal family commemorated the event at a church service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, joined by veterans of the conflict and former prisoners of war.
Some in the crowd dabbed their eyes during the solemn ceremony that recalled the pain and the memory of those who had perished.
“(We) remember, with gratitude, those who gave their lives for the cause which we have believed to be right, and especially to remember our comrades who, in prison camps, or in the seas of the Far East, made the supreme sacrifice, and also to remember those who have died, since their return, as a result of their suffering,” said Sam Wells, the vicar of St. Martin.
Yet the day – so joyous 70 years ago – also promises to be one in which the triumph of the victors will be celebrated.