Posted on: 31st July 2025

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.

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.

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 (Abomb 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 lost 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.

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. 

Read the full article, and find out about other events in and around the Leeds and Salford Dioceses, here.