by Sean Morris, Commission member
Over the past 12 months, commemorations have taken place to remember the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. These have included the 80th anniversary of D-day, remembering VE Day on 8th May and soon there will be commemorations for the formal end of the war with VJ Day on 15th August.
As is usual, many of these commemorations are often militaristic in style, with parades or events at town and city war memorials. They are all the more poignant as the veterans of that huge conflict are now small in number and there are fewer eyewitness accounts to the war, regardless of all the documentaries on television, as these people inevitably reduce in number.
For the peace and justice movement, one of the most notable and tragic of anniversaries arrives on August 6th and August 9th with the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic weapon attacks. The use of nuclear weapons in war led to the direct deaths of over 200,000 people in the two cities, either vapourised or burnt to death on the day or suffering the awful effects of radiation on their bodies. Many more have had radiation illnesses up to the present day.
The attacks also arguably helped initiate the following decades of the Cold War, as the world came very close on many occasions to a third use of nuclear weapons in warfare. There were also the regular and highly destructive testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific Ocean, affecting indigenous communities in Australia and in the deserts of Nevada and Semipalatinsk, and affecting many other people from around the world.
For over 20 years I have been involved with the local government organisation, Mayors for Peace. I was the Mayors for Peace lead officer when I worked in Leeds City Council, and I was the UK and Ireland Mayors for Peace Secretary in Manchester City Council from 2008 – 2021. Led by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this group of over 8,500 towns and cities in 175 countries and regions around the world seeks to build support for a more peaceful world free from nuclear weapons.
It engages closely with the Nobel Peace Laureate group the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the current Nobel Peace Laureate Nihon Hidankyo (the Japanese Confederation of A and H-bomb Sufferers Organisation) and many other local, national and international peace groups. Many Mayors for Peace members will be holding events for Hiroshima and Nagasaki Day around the world.
It is important in this 80th anniversary year to keep the story of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki alive to our current generation, as the number of hibakusha (A-bomb survivors) is also declining rapidly now. As a Vice President of Mayors for Peace, the Lord Mayor of Manchester and the UK & Ireland Mayors for Peace Secretary will represent its members at the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Peace Ceremonies and the Executive & General Conferences of Mayors for Peace.
But there will also be lots of chances for you to join with them in active solidarity with the hibakusha, to call for a more peaceful world, at a time when nuclear proliferation is beginning to grow again in our volatile world.
Here are some of the events in and around the Leeds and Salford Dioceses:
- Leeds – a solemn commemoration with readings, wreath laying, choir singing and the reading of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Peace Declarations will take place in Park Square, Leeds city centre by the Mayors for Peace tree and plaque from 10.30am – 11.30am on Saturday August 9th. All are welcome to attend
- Bradford – a commemoration will take place in Norfolk Gardens behind Bradford City Hall from 12pm – 1pm on Wednesday August 6th.
- Hebden Bridge – a commemoration will take place by the wavy steps at the historic pack horse bridge in the centre of Hebden Bridge from 11am – 12pm on Wednesday August 6th. All are welcome to attend.
- Keighley – a commemoration will take place in Keighley Town Hall Square from 11am – 12pm on Wednesday August 6th. All welcome.
- Manchester – I will be hosting Manchester City Council’s official solemn Hiroshima Day commemoration in Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, Manchester from 11.30am – 12.30pm. We will have readings, a minute silence for all innocent victims of warfare and a group reading of the UN Peace Affirmation.
- Heaton Park, Manchester – the Nagasaki Day commemoration will take place by one of Manchester’s gingko peace trees in the Western Pleasure Grounds by the Stables Café from 2 – 3pm on Saturday August 9th with readings and choir singing.
- There will also be walks of the Manchester Peace Trail on August 6th and 9th. Reserve a ticket by going to this weblink: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hiroshima-nagasaki-80th-anniversary-manchester-peace-walks-tickets-1477332103089
Events will be taking place across the country with major events in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, at the National Eisteddfod and in many more places. Please do try and go along to a local event this August.