KING Charles and Queen Camilla were reduced to tears yesterday by a 105-year-old war veteran.
Yavar Abbas, who served as an officer in the Far East and witnessed the horrors of the atom bomb at Hiroshima, was due to read from his war diary at a service to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.
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But live on national TV, Yavar switched from his talk about his experiences in the four-year battle against Japan.
Instead, he paid a moving tribute to the King, hailing his bravery in the face of cancer.
Yavar told 1,500 guests gathered for the Royal British Legion service of remembrance: “I make no apology for briefly going off the script to salute my brave King who is here with his beloved Queen, in spite of the fact that he’s under treatment for cancer, an alien that I share with him.
“If it provides any comfort, of which I’ve been rid for the past 25 years and counting.
“I salute him for gracing this occasion, because by his presence here, he has gone a long way to make sure that his grandad’s 14th Army is never given the soubriquet again of a Forgotten Army.”
Tears began to flow down Camilla’s cheeks, while Charles, wearing a Field Marshal’s uniform, looked visibly moved as they sat with veterans and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Later, the Queen dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief and looked lovingly at her husband.
The crowd cheered for Yavar, one of 33 veterans, aged 96 to 105, who attended the VJ80 commemoration at the National Memorial Arboretum near Burton-on-Trent, Staffs, to mark the day World War Two ended in 1945.
Yavas, a former 2nd Lieutenant, went on to tell the audience of the horrors he witnessed in Burma as the Allied 14th Army fought a series of battles against Japanese invaders.
Reading his diary entry written in February 1945, he recalled being ready to move out at first light with “every chance of not coming back at all”.
The entry goes on: “I could have been dead twice before, but I’m still living. I would be surprised if I get a life for a third time. May God spare me.”
Yavar lived to tell his tale to the world on VJ Day and when he returned to his place among the veterans in the royal box, King Charles saluted him.
I make no apology for briefly going off the script to salute my brave King who is here with his beloved Queen, in spite of the fact that he’s under treatment for cancer, an alien that I share with him
Yavar Abbas
Moments earlier, Camilla had to comfort 100-year-old John Harlow, who was visibly moved when Endeavour actor Anton Lesser told his story.
John, from Exeter, Devon, served for two years as a submariner on HMS Rorqual in the Pacific fleet in World War Two, and still mourns the loss of his friend.
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Anton told the service the sub’s sister ship, HMS Porpoise, was attacked by a Japanese bomber.
John recalled: “None of the crew survived. War doesn’t grant you the luxury of goodbyes.
“Every year on VJ Day, I think of a close friend of mine that was on board, Mark Weber.
War doesn’t grant you the luxury of goodbyes
John Harlow
“I wish today for us to remember all the crew of HMS Porpoise, Mark and all lost at sea for in remembering they live on.”
The King, Queen, PM and military top brass began the service by laying wreaths at a drumhead set up on the steps of the Arboretum’s spectacular Armed Forces Memorial.
At noon, the veterans and guests stood in 80-degree heat for the national two-minute silence to remember the almost 30,000 British forces killed in the Far East along with 13,000 who suffered unimaginable brutality as prisoners of war.
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During the silence, eight Red Arrows screamed overhead.
Celia Imrie, who fell in love with India while filming The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel movie, paid tribute to the veterans and all who served: “We wish to share our gratitude with all who served and were imprisoned.
“Your spirit and determination in the face of unspeakable horrors will not be forgotten.”
Bill Jones, 99, of Staines, Surrey, was a Fleet Air Arm Fitter on the island of Ponam. Before the service he said “I saw the prisoners, thin as rakes, bruises everywhere.”
Britain’s last two Chindits, Sid Machin, 101, of Christchurch, Dorset, and Charlie Richards, 104, from Kettering, Northants, sat side-by-side.
Robert Lindsay read words they had written about their time with the famous Long Range unit fighting behind the enemy lines.
‘Never be forgotten’
The actor read: “As we neared the end of our time in Burma, death became an everyday occurrence, with bodies to bury almost every evening, some from enemy action, most from the appalling conditions caused by the monsoon.
“After weeks of this, it made you wonder if it would be your shoulder that death would be tapping on next. When we came back, it felt like people forgot what we did in Burma.
“We still feel proud sitting here today representing all those brave boys we fought alongside in Burma, thanks to You, Sid and Charlie, the Chindits will never be forgotten.”
Later the King and Queen then spent around an hour at the reception speaking to veterans.
Charles told Charlie Richards, 104, one of the last surviving Chindits, a unit that fought deep behind enemy lines: “The things you did, I could never get over. We owe you all such a huge debt of gratitude.”
TOM’S LAST VIDEO
By Mike Ridley
ONE of the stars of the commemoration died the day before VJ Day.
Former Royal Artillery bombardier Tom Jones, 103, spoke in a video played at the service about fighting in Burma, and how a Gurkha saved his life from the Japanese.
But the audience was shocked when the host, actress Celia Imrie, said Tom, of Salford in Gtr Manchester, had died on Thursday afternoon after a short illness.
In May, Tom told today’s schoolchildren to “choose peace” because war was “truly terrible”.
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