Saturday 15th August 2020 – A nation remembers the ‘Forgotten War’
Amongst the Far East POW families there has always been a sense of frustration and sadness that the sacrifices made by the men who fought in campaigns in the Far East were brushed aside and forgotten. They came home without fanfare and were told not to talk about their experiences. So there was mounting excitement that the BBC was going to recognise VJ Day 75 with two television programmes.
The commemoration at The National Memorial Arboretum in the morning was “inclusive, dignified and very moving” as one family member said to me. The sight of old men sitting on benches spaced far apart for social distancing was very poignant, and so was the moment when Prince Charles reached out to support an old soldier who nearly toppled over when laying his wreath.
The evening programme, The Nation’s Tribute was more showbiz, but no less moving. I’m familiar with one of the men whose face was projected on to the buildings at Horse Guards Parade. Bob Hucklesby, now 99, told the heart-breaking story of being up in Thailand working on the Railway when he became very ill with dysentery and he was laid on a bed in the Death Hut. He asked his two best friends “his muckers,” as he called them, to make him a back rest to prop him up and he stayed awake all night. In the morning he was the only one left alive. Bob has devoted his life to making sure that his comrades’ memory is not forgotten.
While we are still struggling with the restrictions of coronavirus it was refreshing to see a military band, an orchestra, a choir and some brilliant soloists all performing so enthusiastically and we were given a chance to sing along to “We’ll Meet Again”. Two wonderful programmes, but by the end which I was an emotional wreck! I wasn’t the only one. As the coverage of VJ Day 75 ended, a text pinged on to my phone: “The end of a perfect day. The BBC has done us proud today haven’t they? And I feel rewarded for the respect that has been paid to such brave men.” It was Bernard Stogden, now in his 80”s, whose father Harry left for the Middle East when he was 5. Harry created the Changi Cross (which I referred to in my other piece), an important symbol for so many. Harry was a prisoner of war for three and a half year, but, after enduring so much, sadly died of beri beri on the boat on the way home. Bernard has spent a lifetime missing him.
The first photograph is Bob Hucklesby, and the second one is of a funeral in Thailand in 1943 which was projected on to the buildings of Horse Guards Parade during the evening programme. Eric Cordingly is the tiny figure in the white cassock leading the processsion. The third photograph is Harry Stogden.