Call For Belfast Veterans To Take Part In VIP Lunch

Belfast veterans – who may be seeking ex forces jobs – may want to get in touch with the City Council with their name, contact details and an outline of their service during wartime in order to be invited to a special VIP lunch.

A civic lunch is set to be held at City Hall to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, with officials now searching for veterans from the city to come to the event on September 2nd.

This date was chosen because it was when the signing of the surrender document took place on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay that formalised the end of the war.

Although VJ Day will be taking place on August 15th with events going on in London, Belfast City Council and the Royal British Legion have come to an agreement to delay commemorations in the city to allow local veterans to also be a part of the event in London.

In London, there will be a flypast and Drumhead Service on Horse Guards Parade, with political and senior military representatives from the Allies and the UK in attendance, alongside veterans from the campaign, family members, civilian internees and former prisoners of war.

VJ Day is also known as Victory over Japan Day. Although the war in Europe came to a close in May 1945, the Far East campaign was still ongoing, with Japan eventually surrendering in August of that year after the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.