COMMUNITIES across West Somerset and Exmoor will be marking the 80h anniversary of VJ Day on Friday (August 15).

The national commemoration marking the end of the Second World War will be led by the Royal British Legion (RBL)

VJ Day marks the anniversary of Japan announcing its surrender in 1945 to the Allied forces, and comes three months after VE Day commemorating the war’s end in Europe.

King Charles III has requested a national two-minute silence to be held in towns and villages across the country at 12 noon.

A message from the King will be broadcast to the nation ahead of a service of remembrance in the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire, which will be attended by King Charles and Queen Camilla, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and veterans.

A number of smaller communities in West Somerset combined their VE and VJ Day celebrations earlier in the year.

But, in Watchet, the town’s RBL branch will be holding a service at the War Memorial at 11 am led by its padre Father Vincent Woods.

Representatives of a number of organisations attending will muster at the memorial in Harbour Road with town crier Dave Milton and will lay wreaths during the short service.

In neighbouring Williton, a service will be held in the village’s war memorial recreation ground at 3 pm.

There will be bellringing at 7 pm in the Church of St Mary Magdalene, in Winsford, to commemorate VJ Day.

A service of remembrance and thanksgiving will take place in St Dubricius Church, Porlock, starting with the national two-minute silence and lasting for half-an-hour.

Separately, an hour-long ‘Songs of Praise’ service will be held on Sunday evening (August 17) at Porlock Weir’s harbour, starting at 6 pm.

The service will follow a three-mile guided walk starting at 3.30 pm around Porlock Weir and Ada Lovelace’s woodland gardens, a visit to St Nicholas’s tin tabernacle church, and the stunning coastal views.

Dunster will hold a picnic lunch combining VE and VJ Day on Sunday from 12 noon to 5 pm in the Village Gardens and Tithe Barn with live music, lawn games, a themed quiz, and World War Two displays.

As part of the village commemorative events, Dunster Museum has been working on an exhibition to share the work it has been doing to investigate the men who served and died for their country in the two world wars and are named on the memorial plaque outside the museum.

It has also been delving through archives to share photographs from Dunster during the war and of the celebrations on VE and VJ Days.

Anybody with photographs from the period which they are happy to share or with any stories of their experiences at the time, or who remember stories told to them by those who were there, should email [email protected].