Author Topic: Manchester Cathedral Memorial  (Read 2850 times)

Offline WX4000

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Manchester Cathedral Memorial
« on: May 27, 2021, 11:13:30 AM »
The image below is of a memorial plaque in the Manchester Cathedral chapel. It is in the memory of the Manchesters who lost their lives in the Far East in WW2. My query is about the end date (6 September 1945). The start of the Far East conflict is not in doubt (8 December 1941) when the Japanese landed in Thailand and began their advance through Malaya to Singapore and declared war on GB. However, I am not certain about the end date quoted on the memorial:6 September 1945.
The Japanese effectively surrendered on 15 August, signed the surrender document on the USS Missouri on 2 September and signed the Singapore surrender document on 12 September.
Please can someone tell me the significance of the 6 September 1945 to the Manchesters? Thanks

Offline mack

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Re: Manchester Cathedral Memorial
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2021, 11:05:40 AM »
i have no idea where they got the date from,its definately nothing to do with the last deaths because the last men to die were ptes griffiths and onley who died on 2nd september

mack

Offline WX4000

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Re: Manchester Cathedral Memorial
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2021, 09:57:14 PM »
I'm beginning to think that the 6 September 1945 is the date upon which the British Liberation Force entered POW camps in Singapore. The Liberation fleet arrived in Singapore on the 5th September and this account [url]https://www.britain-at-war.org.uk/WW2/Liberation-of-Singapore/[url] states the camps were liberated the next day i.e. the 6th.
That's a little inconsistent with the 8 December being the date upon which the Japanese entered Malaya and the start of the war in the Far East. The 15 February was the surrender date and date when the POWs incarceration began and is hardly a date to memorialise. But certainly the 6 September 1945 would be one hell of a day to remember and memorialise after three and a half years in a Japanese POW camp.