'Defeat Into Victory': Veterans Mark VJ Day

War veterans have gathered on Horse Guards Parade in central London for a Drumhead commemoration to mark the 70th anniversary of VJ Day.

Crowds applauded as a Dakota, Hurricane and a current RAF Typhoon fighter jet flew past in tribute to the sacrifice made by thousands of Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen in the fight against Japan during World War Two.

The Right Reverend Nigel Stock, bishop to HM Armed Forces, led the service and paid particular tribute to those who served in the Far East and played a pivotal role in Japan's defeat.

Viscount Slim, the son of Field Marshal Slim, read a passage from his father's memoir Defeat Into Victory.

He read: "To the soldiers of many races who, in the comradeship of the 14th Army, did go on, and to the airmen who flew with them and fought with them and fought over them, belongs the true achievement.

"It was they who turned defeat into victory."

The veterans and their families, together with serving force members, sang hymns including Abide with Me and Guide Me O' Thou Great Redeemer with the Gwalia Male Voice Choir and the London Welsh Male Voice Choir.

Actor Charles Dance read Rudyard Kipling's Mandalay - a favourite marching tune for many in the 14th Army in Burma, commanded by Field Marshal Slim during the campaign.

Allied forces fought a fierce 12-day battle in Mandalay, Burma's second largest city and managed to re-take it on 20 March 1945. The victory ended Japanese hopes of holding Burma, and the 14th Army continued on to Rangoon, reoccupying it on 3 May.

Prince Charles, Prime Minister David Cameron, the chairman of the Burma Star Association and the chairman of the Royal British Legion laid wreaths by the Drumhead, while the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla watched from the royal box.

The veterans from the Far East Campaign, their families and descendants, along with current personnel, then paraded down Whitehall to Westminster Abbey, where a special reception is being hosted by the Royal British Legion.

Earlier the Queen, Prince Philip and the Earl and Countess of Wessex attended a service at St Martin-in-the-Fields in nearby Trafalgar Square, along with M Cameron, veterans and their families.

It was held to remember those who were forced to work on the railway between Burma and Siam. Some of the sleepers from the original railway are kept in the church.

During the service the congregation heard from Maurice Naylor, who said he joined the Royal Artillery at the age of 19 and was told dealing with the Japanese would be "easy".

"At that time we did not know much about the Japanese. How ignorant and complacent we were. We didn't deal with them. We were defeated by the Japanese," he said.

Security for the events was as tight as always after Sky News reported a possible threat to the commemorations earlier this week.

Other VJ (Victory Over Japan) Day commemorations have been taking place across the country.

"I think the fact that there were two separate events taking place in London with the Royal Family on the same day is significant," said royal correspondent Roya Nikkhah.

"It shows that the veterans of VJ Day and the people who took part in that campaign are being recognised in a very major way."

Two and a half million people were sent to fight in the Far East.

It was jungle warfare for which western forces were ill-prepared, and as a result 190,000 British and Commonwealth troops were taken prisoner.

Nearly a quarter died in captivity.

Most were forced into slave labour on the infamous Burma to Thailand "Death Railway", built to transport Japanese troops and supplies.

It is now considered among the worst atrocities of the Second World War, but many of those who endured it have complained of feeling forgotten; that their suffering was eclipsed by the horrors of Auschwitz and the gas chambers.

:: War veteran recalls horrors of his captivity

Historian Rafe Heydel Mankoo told Sky News: "Many veterans feel that their accomplishments and the terrible tragedies they had to endure have been overlooked.

"The treatment that the British soldiers faced in that part of the world eclipsed anything else faced by our troops.

"The conditions they were in as prisoners of war exceeded all levels of brutality one could imagine - forced labour camps with many people tortured and executed, and it was felt by many that these experiences simply were not realised back at home."

Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced the Japanese to surrender, bringing the conflict to an end.

:: Japan expresses "deep remorse"

Celebrations erupted on the streets of Britain on 14 August, 1945, and 15 August was officially named VJ Day.