On Friday August 13th, 2010, members of the Skegness and District Burma Star Association gathered at St Clement's College, Burgh Road, Skegness to commemorate the 65th anniversary of V.J. Day, August 15th, 1945 which marked the end of the Second World War. The service was led by our Minister, the Reverend Ian Banks, who has been Padre to the local Burma Star Association for eight years.

The members and friends were joined on this occasion by the Town Mayor of Skegness, Councillor Mrs Sue Binch, the Mayor's Consort Mr David Binch, the Skegness Town Clerk, Mr Tony Cumberworth and his wife Ann, members and friends from the Wisbech branch of the BSA, and representatives from other local Ex-services organisations. Among invited guests were Mrs Tricia Preston, Chair of Governors of St Clement's College, Mr Ron Allen, Midlands Area Chairman, and Mr Dan Barlow, Area Secretary of the BSA.

During the service Councillor Mrs Sue Binch read a passage from the Gospel of John and Mrs Tricia Preston read Psalm 25. The Skegness Silver Band provided the music as they have done for a number of years.

During the Act of Remembrance the Royal British Legion Homage was said by Mr Jim Moran, President of the Skegness branch of the RBL. After the sounding of the Last Post, the Kohima Epitaph was said by Mr Reg Bowers, President of the Skegness and District Branch of the BSA. There then followed a two minutes silence which was broken by the sounding of the Reveille. Wreaths were laid at the 'Cross of Sacrifice' on behalf of the Burma Star Association, the Burma Star Widows and other Ex Service organisations.

The Reverend Ian Banks addressed the members, invited guests, and friends as follows:

This is the 8th year that I have had the privilege to stand with you as we commemorate the end of World War II, August 15, 1945, when the Japanese finally surrendered and the war in the Far East was over.

I have always found this service very moving, but this year it has a particular and special poignancy because it is only just a few weeks since we said our final farewell to Tom Brett, who passed into glory on July 1st at the age of 86. Tom had only recently been appointed Branch President.

The fact is that we are today commemorating the 65th anniversary of Victory in Japan, VJ Day as it has become known, and so it's not surprising that the ranks of those who actually served in the Far East during World War 2 are depleting at an ever increasing rate.

But despite the sad losses of members over the past few years, and the closure of many branches, this is no reason to cease the practice of remembering the great sacrifices made in past years by so many.

This dedication to Remembrance is all the more important because the campaign in the Far East, and in particular in Burma, has been called the "forgotten theatre" of World War II. Indeed those who fought there were once referred to as the Forgotten Army. But those who fought there would never forget the hell it was.

For most people it was the war in Europe that made the headlines. In 1944 Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten addressed a Press Conference with these words:

"We do not want a lot of limelight, in fact we do not want any, but I go round and talk to the men in the Command, and what worries them is that their wives, their mothers, their daughters, their sweethearts, and their sisters, don't seem to know that the war they are fighting is important and worth while, which it most assuredly is. The South East Asia Command is a long way off: it is apt to be overshadowed by the climax of the war against Germany and the war in the Pacific. Therefore a major effort by Allied forces, doing their duty in inhospitable places, has been somewhat crowded out and the forces have not received their proportion of credit".

"My purpose this afternoon is to put their achievements before you. Enemy-held territory in the South East Asia theatre extends 2,500 miles southwards from the north of Burma. The front on which we are at present fighting in Burma alone extends some 700 miles and is second only in length to the Russian Front. It is Japan's land route to India and, more important, the Allies land route to China. Both offensively and defensively Japan has strained and is straining every nerve to hold Burma".

"The Japanese control Burma's rivers, railways and roads, and since they are a rice-eating army they live off the fat of the land. We, on the other hand, are fighting from the most difficult lines of communication imaginable".

Mountbatten included in his report to the press an acknowledgement of the roles played by the Royal Navy, the Merchant Navy, and the Royal Air Force.

He concluded his address with the words; "I am glad to have had this opportunity of endeavouring to explain the significance of the 1944 Burma campaign. I am proud of the gallant fighting which has taken place on all fronts and I hope that my statement may make the people who read it proud of the achievements of their own countrymen and grateful to their Allies who helped them in these achievements".

But the impressive results achieved by the 'Forgotten Army' were not secured without heavy casualties. Allied forces in 1944 alone suffered 10,000 killed: 2,000 missing and 27,000 wounded.

When asked to comment on the 'glory' of war, General William T Sherman caustically answered "War is hell".

The Allied soldiers who grappled with the Japanese in World War 2, would, I'm sure, quickly agree. But those who fought in Burma would quickly disagree - they were in hell.

For the uninitiated, the word 'Burma' conjures exotic images of Buddhist shrines, intricate brainwork, water buffaloes, and exotically beautiful women. It's an attractive image, but the reality is, the men who fought in Burma were up against one of the world's worst climates and some of its most forbidding terrain.

They had to scale jagged mountains, hack their way through almost impenetrable jungle, cross swiftly flowing rivers, and pass over dusty plains where temperatures ranged as high as 130 degrees F. Some units had to cut their way through head-high knife-like elephant grass. Others, using 'roads', found their way blocked by mounds of debris pushed up by the Japanese.

In the mountains the roads were sometimes so narrow tanks had to creep along with half their tracks hanging over the edge.

Then there was the rain. Burma has its rainy season from May to September - the Monsoon. This is rain with a vengeance; in some places as much as 375 inches of rain falls in 12 weeks. It came down so hard at times, that, as one veteran put it: "You literally couldn't see your hand in front of your face".

The Monsoon turned valleys into lakes; rivers rose 30 feet in, a single night; and trails became swathes of ankle-deep mud. Frequently during a downpour the bodies of properly buried fallen soldiers would rise to the surface. The effect of the rain and mud on operations was profound. Overland travel slowed to little more than a mile an hour on foot. Units often became isolated.

In places it rained as much as 15 inches a day, miring soldiers up to their calves in porridge-thick mud. Swarms of black flies drove men to frenzy. After heavy rains, trees and bushes became so heavily laden with blood-sucking leeches that one officer described the foliage as looking like a "wheat field waving in the wind".

Vicious, biting, stinging, rapacious insects - from mosquitoes to mites to ticks - descended on the fleshy bounty the warring armies provided them. Soldiers suffered from malaria, fever, cholera, scabies, yaws, scrub typhus and dysentery. At one point casualties from tropical illness outnumbered those from combat wounds by a ratio of 14:1, with malaria accounting for 90 per cent of the cases.

Though the monsoon certainly presented some nightmarish problems, it was not the worst of Burma's tortures. The really bad part came after the rain stopped. In the sweltering jungle, the temperature climbed steadily every day and the humidity grew to be overpowering. Fungi and bacteria multiplied, breeding rot and disease. Even healthy soldiers found breathing difficult, and sleep became almost impossible.

The character of the Japanese enemy greatly compounded the problem for the Allies - they were fanatical fighters, almost always preferring death to capture. One soldier wrote; "You never knew from one moment to the next when you'd run into the Japanese".

Soldiers lived in constant agonising anticipation of a sniper's bullet, and were so jittery an entire battery of artillery might be called in to eliminate a solitary sniper. One Japanese sniper, dubbed 'little Willie' by the British troops he engaged, fired from a hole in a tree for three weeks, picking off eight officers, despite frantic efforts to get him with mortar and small arms fire. He eventually slipped away unscathed. In another documented incident, Japanese infantry attacked British tanks with nothing more than swords.

The terrors of the jungle left indelible marks on the men in Burma. Many came down with 'jungle happiness'. When they returned to civilian life they found themselves ill at ease around crowds and bright lights and sometimes even their family and friends.

Burma has been called the 'forgotten theatre' of World War II. But those who fought there would never forget the hell it was.

Our being here today goes some way to acknowledging the sacrifice, not only of those who never returned, but of those who have had to live with the terror ever since.

Those who made the ultimate sacrifice, deserve the ultimate life.

And I am here today to tell you that they have received the 'Ultimate Life', an eternity of peace and love with God and one day, my friends, we will share that eternity with those we have loved and lost; for it is God's promise.

We read in the Gospel of John that Jesus said; "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Jesus' words show that the way to eternal life, though unseen, is secure; as secure as our trust in Jesus. He has already prepared the way. The only issue that may still be unsettled is our willingness to believe.

Jesus says he is the only way to God, and therefore eternal life. Some people may argue that this way is too narrow. In reality it is wide enough for the whole world if the world chooses to accept it.

Jesus is the way because he is both God and man. He is the complete revelation of what God is like. To know Jesus is to know God. By uniting our lives with his we are united with God. Trust Jesus to take you to the Father and all the benefits of being God's child will be yours.

When Jesus spoke these words he was soon going to leave his disciples. But he told them he would remain with them. How could this be?

Well what Jesus was referring to was the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit of God himself would come after Jesus was gone to care for and guide all who would be disciples of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within us, and all who believe, helping us to live as God wants and building Christ's Church on earth. By faith we can live by the Spirit each day, even under the worse circumstances; even in the deepest of pain.

The end result of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives is deep and lasting peace. Unlike worldly peace, which is usually defined as the absence of conflict, Christ's peace is confident assurance in any circumstances. With Jesus' peace we have no reason to fear the present or the future. Sin, fear. uncertainty, doubt, and numerous other forces are at war within us. The peace of God moves into our hearts and lives in us to restrain these hostile forces and offer comfort in place of conflict.

Jesus says he will give us that peace if we are willing to accept it from him. What is required of us is trust. The psalmist too talks of trust. In Psalm 25 we heard;

"To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me".

I'm sure that's a prayer that has been echoed millions of times, although maybe not in such eloquent words. I know that it was a sentiment that Tom Brett shared daily as a young man throughout his military service as he served his country on the Aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, on duty as part of the Pacific Fleet in World War 2. I know because he gave me this crucifix, which he carried with him at all times and which reminded him of the sacrifice made by Jesus for him, as he witnessed at first hand the sacrifices made by so many of his comrades. A sacrifice which he himself, along with many millions of others, was willing to make, if required.

Tom survived, but, like so many, still lived with the memories. But he lived in Christ's peace with confident assurance in any circumstances, not fearing the past, the present, or the future.

Here in Skegness at the height of the Summer Season, we are a long way from the terrifying killing fields of Burma and the Far East. Indeed not just distance but also time separates us from horrors of World War 2 and from the lawn tennis court in a place called Kohima in Assam, where in 1944 the Allied Forces decided to form a defence line against the Japanese.

But for those who were there and who gather today to remember with gratitude those who fought an intense and ferocious rearguard battle, indeed for all who fought in the Burma Campaign, for those who were there, neither time nor distance can erode the memories of the military successes, or the comrades who fell, nor the valiant deeds that were then part of everyday life.

But let us also remember their legacy to us. Let us embrace 'Peace'.

Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid".

My dear friends, for every soldier, seaman, airman, and nurse, whether man or woman, who suffers or dies in the pursuit of peace there awaits an eternity of peace. As the years go by we continue to remember all who have made the ultimate sacrifice, knowing that even for the 'Forgotten Army' the memory of their sacrifice lives on in our hearts.

Men who were in Burma we are gathered today; standing still together for our special day. For we know that for our tomorrow you gave your today. Amen.