'VJ Day wasn't of any great consequence to us'

Richard Clegg was serving on HMS Victorious in the Pacific on VJ Day

A 100-year-old World War Two veteran said VJ Day did not seem to be of any "great consequence" at the time, even though he was serving in the Pacific.

Richard Clegg, from Bozeat, near Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, was on board HMS Victorious on 15 August 1945 when Japan surrendered.

Events to mark the 80th anniversary were held on Friday and over the weekend across the UK.

Mr Clegg said the events were "for people who weren't there to remember it. People who were there I don't think make a fuss about it really".

Richard Clegg (far left) served in the navy during World War Two

Victory over Japan Day commemorates the Japanese surrender that brought the war to a complete end.

Mr Clegg said that 80 years ago, HMS Victorious was "delivering a load of American planes into the middle of the American Pacific Fleet".

He told BBC Radio Northampton's Annabel Amos they "got halfway there to our destination" when they were stopped.

'No communication'

"We didn't know what had happened, and the next day they then told us that the first atom bomb had been dropped [on Hiroshima], and then... three days later they dropped the second atom bomb [on Nagasaki] so they then said the fleet will disperse," Mr Clegg said.

The bombs killed more than 200,000 people – some from the immediate blast and others from radiation sickness and burns – and led to Japan's surrender.

Mr Clegg said HMS Victorious sailed to Brisbane and was then used to take Japanese prisoners of war home or to hospital.

"[VJ Day] wasn't of any great consequence to us at the time because we were never directly involved with fighting the actual Japanese people," he said.

The veteran also said VE Day – marking Victory in Europe – which happened earlier in the year, in May, was not celebrated in the Pacific because it "wasn't possible – there was no communication".

The centenarian is the last of his friends from the services still alive, and he put his longevity down to "good fortune".

He added: "I've always kept fit. You just learnt to look after yourself when you are in the navy."