Thursday, August 14, 2025
5:30 pm
The cathedral lies in the heart of Leicester's old town. The service will commence at 5.30pm on Thursday, 14th August 2025.
The Leicestershire Regiment has a particular relevance to the Far-East war, with the 1st battalion in Malaya and 2nd and 7th battalions in Burma, with service personnel from the regiment also spending a considerable amount of time in captivity.
As there were many other men from Leicestershire who fought in the Far- East with other units who also needed to be honoured and remembered, it was felt that a special effort had to be made to establish a major remembrance and commemoration service at the cathedral.
COFEPOW member, Ken Hewitt, has been advised by Colonel Swallow of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment, that it has been confirmed that a special commemorative service is to be held at Leicester Cathedral, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.
Leicestershire Area Co-ordinator, Shirley Barnes, has spent much of her time in reminding the City and County authorities that VJ Day needs to be remembered in the same way as VE Day. She continues...
"I know from conversations I have had with the Mayor and others in the council, that he is genuinely interested in this subject. When we were trying to get the memorial in place a couple of years ago, I took loads of information with me to the meeting I had with him and the museum service. I thought I would have to strong arm him emotionally into agreeing, but not so - he was really enthusiastic about it and still is.
"The Mayor spent a great deal of time looking at the project and was very moved by the names and addresses and so on, that I had accumulated at that stage. He made the point that he knew
these streets, he knew the jobs these men had and he said it was humbling to think they would have been his neighbours or his milkman, etc.
"It also helped that one of the Deputy Mayors had a father-in-law that was a Japanese POW. He'd been a 16 year old cabin boy on a Merchant Navy ship that was captured by the Japanese Navy.
"I believe they are also aware that this commemoration may be the last till the 100th, and most of the current children of FEPOWs will be struggling to be there. So I think it is more about remembering all those from Leicester and Leicestershire that were affected, not just the county regiment.
"Several of our COFEPOW area group are intending to be there. Commemorations for the 70th anniversary were the last major event organised, as the 75th was very subdued as the covid pandemic destroyed the occasion.
"I think I was invited to the council meetings to 'shut me up', as I'd made a big fuss about the city not doing anything for VJ Day. As an aside, I went with my eldest son, and we ended up sitting behind the VIPs, who were wearing lots of big hats. My son leaned over and asked me "Who did you have to kill to get these seats?"!
"I and Ken Hewitt have circulated many of our contacts, and so we do hope there will be a good representation of relatives of Leicester veterans and FEPOWs at the service".
