First minster in VJ Day tribute in Edinburgh

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has paid tribute to those who served in the Far East during World War Two, on the 70th anniversary of Victory over Japan.

It is seven decades since the end of World War Two on VJ Day, when the Japanese surrendered to the allies.

Ms Sturgeon attended a commemorative service at Edinburgh's Canongate Kirk.

She said it was incredibly important to remember the sacrifice of those who had fought, were imprisoned and had died in the Japanese war.

13,000 British soldiers died in prisoner-of-war camps and during forced labour on projects such as the Burma-Siam railway.

The minister of the Canongate Kirk, the Reverend Neil Gardner, himself a former Army chaplain, said between VE Day (Victory in Europe) and VJ Day (Victory over Japan) many of those fighting in the Far East felt forgotten.

Nicola Sturgeon said it was incredibly important to remember the sacrifice of those who had fought in the Japanese war

He said Saturday's service would help redress that balance.

Later Nicola Sturgeon will take some of the veterans to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

The first minister told BBC Scotland: "It is profoundly important and deeply personal to all of us that we take time to remember those who fought the Second World War, and those who gave their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we take for granted in this generation.

"Today's service was very beautiful and poignant and an important opportunity for us all to reflect and to remember."

Jim Richardson was not released until a month after the surrender

WWII veterans Donald Christison and Jim Richardson were among those who attended the service.

Mr Christison, from Edinburgh, was on HMS Duke of York at the end of the war.

He was in Tokyo harbour around the time of surrender, and was taken down to Hiroshima at a later date, not long after the bomb had been dropped. His boat was picking up prisoners liberated from the camps.

The 89-year-old said: "I was working with electrics down below in the ship where the hull was 15 inches thick. It was a scary place to be if we were torpedoed, you wouldn't get out."

Jim Richardson, 90, was taken prisoner when his ship was sunk - and he was a prisoner for three years, seven months and 23 days.

He was not freed until more than a month after the surrender.

Mr Richardson said: "I knew nothing about it because we were still kept in captivity until 23 September.

"The Japanese never left the camp and we were still under guard. We knew something was happening because the guards were disappearing.

"Eventually they all went except two and we knew that something had happened."