Poignant commemorative VJ Day 75 flypast was heard but not seen

The Prince of Wales led a two-minute silence as part of last Saturday’s service of remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
VJ Day 75 at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School. Photo by Gerry GallagherVJ Day 75 at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School. Photo by Gerry Gallagher
VJ Day 75 at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School. Photo by Gerry Gallagher

With strictly limited attendance and rigorous social-distancing rules because of Covid-19, it was one of numerous similarly regulated commemorations here and across the UK on the 75th anniversary of VJ Day - the day WWII ended with Japan’s surrender.

With a small number of veterans and their relatives sitting on benches dotted around the arboretum, the Staffordshire service included Henry Francis Lyte’s oft-sung hymn ‘Abide with Me’.

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There was also a Battle of Britain close-formation memorial flypast by a WWII Lancaster bomber, a Hurricane and three Spitfires.

Former WAAF Drivers Francis Hornby and Rita Hamilton at Castle Archdale in 1945Former WAAF Drivers Francis Hornby and Rita Hamilton at Castle Archdale in 1945
Former WAAF Drivers Francis Hornby and Rita Hamilton at Castle Archdale in 1945

Fittingly, County Fermanagh’s commemorations at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School were held beneath the hymn-writer’s Ulster History Circle blue plaque.

Henry Francis Lyte boarded at the then Portora Royal School between 1803 and 1809.

Enniskillen’s flypast by a US Navy P-8 Poseidon wasn’t as visually stunning as Staffordshire’s, or as Belfast’s colourful flypast by the Red Arrows, but the mighty roar of the Poseidon’s two powerful turbofans left no one in any doubt that it was up there, though hidden by low clouds.

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There were a number of smaller and larger commemorative events around Northern Ireland on Saturday, all held under Covid-19 health restrictions, and quite a few social media and live-streamed commemorations.

Rita Hamilton at Enniskillen's VJ Day 75 Commemorations. Photo by Roy Crawford PhotographyRita Hamilton at Enniskillen's VJ Day 75 Commemorations. Photo by Roy Crawford Photography
Rita Hamilton at Enniskillen's VJ Day 75 Commemorations. Photo by Roy Crawford Photography

The Enniskillen service was attended by seven WWII veterans, with three more watching the live stream at home.

Former Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) veterans Rita Hamilton from Maguiresbridge and Frankie Hornby from Lisnaskea were there. Both were stationed at Lough Erne’s famous Flying Boat bases.

WAAF nurse Olive Jones (née Montgomery) from Ederney also attended, having served in Egypt and the UK during WWII.

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WAAF veteran Caroline Hall from Derrylin watched the VJ Day event on her TV screen.

Tommy McBrien RAF.Tommy McBrien RAF.
Tommy McBrien RAF.

Thomas McBrien and Bill Eames also attended the service, Bill revisiting the school where he was educated, then called Portora Royal.

The 100-year-old Burma Star recipient Thomas McBrien was stationed in the Far East with the RAF and fortunately was evacuated from Singapore just before the Japanese invasion.

Former Flight Lieutenant Eames remembered the 456 Portora boys who served during WWII, with 50 paying the ultimate sacrifice - eight in the Far East.

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Accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant for County Fermanagh, Viscount Brookeborough, Bill presented wreaths in memory of those who died in WWII to the school’s Head Girl and Head Boy - Ellen Bloomfield and Robbie Mills.

Tommy McBrien at VJ Day Commemoration. Photo by Gerry GallagherTommy McBrien at VJ Day Commemoration. Photo by Gerry Gallagher
Tommy McBrien at VJ Day Commemoration. Photo by Gerry Gallagher

The wreaths were later laid at the school’s war memorial, and Bill also planted a commemorative oak tree in the school grounds.

Joining with the other veterans at the school was WWII Royal Signals veteran and centenarian Bob Lingwood from Omagh and his good friend Dave Alderdice who served in the Royal Observer Corps.

Teddy Dixon, another centenarian who served with the United States Army 42nd Rainbow Division, which trained in Fermanagh, and Dave Mullin from Omagh, who served with the North Irish Horse and fought at the Battle of Monte Cassino, watched the commemorations on social media.

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While everyone waited for the US Navy P-8 Poseidon’s (hidden!) flypast, the RAF’s Wing Commander Jacqueline Rankin recounted the aircraft’s proud history and its poignant Fermanagh connections.

Wartime Fermanagh was a training base for US soldiers while Lough Erne was the watery ‘airport’ for numerous flying boats on anti-U-boat duties and maritime patrols.

One of the lough’s Catalinas, co-piloted by the US Navy Airforce’s Leonard B ‘Tuck’ Smith, famously discovered the Bismarck.

WAAF Driver Rita HamiltonWAAF Driver Rita Hamilton
WAAF Driver Rita Hamilton

Other United States pilots and planes flew from Lough Erne, some tragically lost in action or crash-landed in Fermanagh, so the visit by a USAF P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was historically significant, if sadly unseen!

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The message from Her Majesty the Queen was read by Viscount Lord Brookeborough, and prayers and bible readings were by Northern Ireland’s Senior Military Chaplain and representatives from the town’s four main churches.

The Act of Remembrance, the two minutes silence, bugle calls and the piper’s lament, ended with the Battles O’er, a solemn, solo performed on the pipes, as it was all over Northern Ireland and the UK.

Local papers recounted VJ Day in 1945 as “ushered in by a marvellous display of search lights…from Killadeas RAF Station.”

Two beams of light were once again projected into Enniskillen’s night sky at the weekend, described by Brian Wockley, Deputy US Consul General, as a “very strong reminder of the incredible trans-Atlantic bond that we still enjoy today.”

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First Minister Arlene Foster, speaking at the commemoration service in the heart of her own constituency, said that it was “an honour” to be there “with so many veterans from WWII.”

She said that their presence “in person or some watching at home” made the event “so much more meaningful.”

Mrs Foster emphasised that one of Enniskillen’s regiments was “the only Irish regiment in the Far East” and paid tribute to the many boys from the school who fought and died in WWII.

The local ‘Take Heart Community Craft Group’ made four banners commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII.

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Designed around the twin themes of peace and hope, the banners were presented to each of the town’s four main churches.

“We always must remember,” said First Minister Arlene Foster “because to remember is to honour those who secured our freedom.”