VJ DAY - SATURDAY 15TH AUGUST 2020

Saturday 15th August 2020, marked the 75th Anniversary of the ending of hostilities in WW2.

Due to the on-going COVID-19 crisis, celebrations were again subdued as social distancing meant no indoor gatherings.

However, to mark the occasion Great Ashfield residents gathered at the village sign in the centre of the village to observe the national 2 minutes silence at 11am.

At 11.02am handbells were then rung 75 times and 'Cry for Peace' was read out to those who had gathered to remember and listen.

 

 

For some Great Ashfield residents it was a time to remember close family members.

Lt Col AA Johnson MC was Commander of the 4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. In 1942 he fought in the Malaya Campaign, and on 15th February 1942 he was wounded and taken prisoner and spent the rest of the war in Changi Prison.

One of his daughters lives in Daisy Green, Great Ashfield.

Another resident displayed his father's medals awarded for fighting against the Japanese

 

Medals from left to right:

1939-45 Star; Burma Star & 1939-45 War Medal

 

Read their stories and more in the Great Ashfield Village News, Autumn 2020 edition published on this website.