THE Lord Lieutenant of Kent, Allan Willett, the Queen’s representative in the county, is urging people remember our Far East veterans on VJ Day.

In a statement he said: "August 15 marks the 60th anniversary of VJ Day – Victory over Japan – a great milestone in the history of the free world.

"In this anniversary Year of Victories it was decided nationally to hold joint VE and VJ commemorations during Veterans Awareness Week in July.

"Our veterans – both from the Armed Forces and the Home Front – marched and attended poignant thanksgiving services in Rochester, Maidstone and Canterbury. And the people of Kent came out in their thousands to honour and thank them.

"So, now that our county has commemorated the World War II victories, should we bother to mark the actual VJ Day on Monday, 15 August?

"My answer is a most emphatic yes. In the past our Far East campaign veterans have styled themselves The Forgotten Army – and with good reason."

Mr Willett stressed: "Their ordeal and their achievements happened far away from their home shores – and sadly it has too often been a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

"After the enthusiastic VE Day celebrations 60 years ago many assumed the war was over, but it was not, and when VJ Day finally came celebrations back here were muted.

"But for the Far East veterans and their families, those horrendous years of war East of Suez are as vivid as ever. For those who suffered as prisoners of war on the Railway of Death and elsewhere, life would never be the same.

"It was fourlong years before my wife Anne’s family had any news of her father, eventually hearing that he had been a prisoner of war in notorious Changi, in Singapore.

"On 15 August we should remember and honour the few surviving FEPOWs – just as we should pay tribute to the heroic defence of Kohima by the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment against enormous Japanese odds.

"And we should recall with pride and gratitude the gallantry of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force in those perilous seas and that danger-filled airspace so far from home."

He added: "Sixty years on, it is a time for reflection, thanksgiving – and gratitude for the incredible sacrifices they all made in the cause of peace.

"Although the main national World War II commemorations are now over, I urge the people of Kent to make sure that on 15 August those brave men and women – and their families – are not forgotten."