by Victoria Ward, Telegraph
Monarch appeals for peace as he recalls his great-uncle’s role in dying days of Second World War
The King has spoken proudly of the role his great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, played in the final throes of the Second World War as he marked the 80th anniversary of VJ Day on Friday.
In a six-minute audio address to the nation, His Majesty paid a heartfelt tribute to the “courage and camaraderie displayed in humanity’s darkest hour”.
He also described how much he had learnt from Lord Louis Mountbatten, his great-uncle, who headed the Allied Forces’ South East Asia Command and in September 1945, received the Japanese surrender at Singapore.
The King spoke of the horrors faced by innocent civilian populations of occupied territories, a tragedy, he noted, that was “all too vividly demonstrated by conflicts around the world today”.
Of those who fought against the Japanese in the Pacific and the Far East, he said their joining of forces across “vast distances, faiths and cultural divides” remained “a vital lesson for our times”.
Prayers and special services mark VJ Day 80th anniversary, Christian Today