A reflection for VJ Day

The Revd Canon Aidan Platten, Norwich Cathedral's Canon Precentor, shares a reflection ahead of the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.

“When you go home, tell them of us and say,

For your tomorrows these gave their today.”

They are words which may be familiar to your ears, they are words of John Maxwell Edmonds.

He wrote a series of epitaphs which he envisaged would be on memorials in France after the First World War.

Those words actually ended up on the Kohima Epitaph, slightly changed.

So slightly more familiar to your ears might be:

“When you go home, tell them of us and say,

For your tomorrow, we gave our today.”

You'll notice that tomorrow becomes singular and ‘these’ and ‘their’ become ‘your’ and ‘our’.

The difference is that we hear very directly the voice of those who gave their lives in war for our peace and for our freedom.

On the 15th of August in this Cathedral, we will be hosting the National Service commemorating VJ Day on this 80th anniversary, celebrating the formal end of the Second World War.

Around me in this chapel of St Saviour in the Cathedral at Norwich, I'm surrounded by names of battles and names of individuals, reminding us of the sacrifice and the pain and the trauma of war.

But set in this context, it reminds us, too, that we are united in eternal life with those who have gone before us, in war and in peace.

And we're called once again, at this moment of anniversary of 80 years of the end of the Second World War, to give thanks for those who gave their today for our tomorrow."

A Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day will take place at Norwich Cathedral at 11am on Friday 15 August 2025.

Entry to the service is by ticket only but all are welcome to watch the service online on the Norwich Cathedral Services YouTube Channel.