The Forgotten Army. Centenarian veterans to unveil the latest Ray Lonsdale statue on the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day, Friday 15th August 2025.
Annually, the founder of north-east charity ‘Daft as a Brush Cancer Patient Care’,Mr.Brian Burnie organises the VJ Day Memorial Walk, this year from Newcastle Civic Centre to South Shields Town Hall in South Tyneside where the latest Ray Lonsdale statue will be unveiled to the public, VIP’s and guests after the Memorial service at 11am.
“This year is very different”, says 81-year-old Mr Burnie. “It’s the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan and marks the official end of the Second World War. This wonderful statue by Ray Lonsdale will be such a moving tribute to all those who never came home and to those veterans who suffered so much.”“We’re thrilled to welcome Mr Dennis Carr and Mr Tom Davidson, who are centenarian veterans who will unveil the statue, along with other veterans just after 11am on 15th August. I am also asking for as many children, grandchildren and relatives of Far East Prisoners of War to be part of this touching memorial service” While VE Day (Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945) celebrated the end of the war in Europe, VJ Day marked the true end of World War II. Many PoW’s continued to suffer extreme conditions, disease and torture months after VE Day celebrations in Europe.
The statue depicts North-East veteran Mr Len Gibson BEM at the time of hisliberation handing his home-made guitar to a young local boy as a symbol of peace and forgiveness. Len played the guitar to entertain his fellow prisoners of war. If you for the child.
Long-time friend and supporter of the cancer charity, Mr Len Gibson BEM wascaptured and imprisoned on the notorious Burma ‘Death’ Railway by the Japanese and endured years of unimaginable treatment on the River Kwai bridge. Later in life, Mr Gibson adopted one of the charity’s ambulances, the children at his former school where he was a music teacher, created the artwork for the ambulance and named it ‘Len Guitar Gibson”. Sadly, Len passed away on 31st July 2021 at 101 years old.
Len’s daughter Jennifer and family will be present on the day with many other guests including council leader Cllr Tracey Dixon, representation from King by Vice Lord-Lieutenant, Lieutenant General Robin Brims and many other supporters Creator of the world famous ‘Tommy’ statue in Seaham County Durham, Ray Lonsdale will also be present: “Brian asked me to come up with some ideas for a memorial statue, so I read the book Len wrote and there was one story that really stood out. Len had made a make-shift guitar to entertain his friends while he was captured, inside that guitar was a very small amount of money he had made. Just as he was about to get on a plane after liberation, Len gave the guitar with the money inside to a Thai child; to me that’s special. After all that time of being purely tortured and all the discomfort and aggression, just to give that gift before he came home was such a nice touch and really tells the story of the man.”
Brian Burnie has privately funded this magnificent tribute to all those prisoners ofwar, many who perished and never returned. Discover more and watch 1080p HD video of the making of The Forgotten Army statue at... https://www.daftasabrush.org.uk/vjwalk
Contacts:
Ray Lonsdale - Two Red Rubber ThingsUnit 20, South Hetton Industrial Estate, South Hetton, DH6 2UZ - Tel: 07708 458 293 - Email: ray@tworedrubberthings.co.uk
Brian Burnie - Daft as a Brush Cancer Patient Care Tel: 0191 28 55 999 / Mobile:07889 224 957 - Email: info@daftasabrush.co.uk
Peter Stoten - Events Manager Daft as a Brush - Tel: 0191 28 55 999 / Mobile:07776 305 032 - Email: peter.stoten@daftasabrush.co.uk
Dave Harrison - Communications (Working days Tues / Wed only)Tel: 0191 28 55 999 Mobile: 0771 253 0902 - Email: dave.harrison@daftasabrush.org.uk
Kaye Russell - South Shields Town Hall Media ContactWestoe Road, South Shields, NE33 2RL Tel: 0191 424 7382Email: kaye.russell@southtyneside.gov.uk
