Burma campaign veterans at a Kingston care home are preparing to mark Victory over Japan (VJ) Day on 15th August.

Royal Star & Garter's Harry Southern and Peter Whiteley are among those who will be celebrating who were both involved in the Burma campaign during WWII.

Peter Whiteley, a 100-year-old living at the Surbiton care home, was involved in direct conflict with Japanese troops while serving in Burma (now Myanmar).

He joined the Army as an 18-year-old in 1940, serving in the Royal Engineers. He was part of the Battle of the Box – which provided a welcome victory against the Japanese after successive failures and retreats – and later survived a deadly assault by enemy troops, which claimed the lives of several men he was with.

Peter Whiteley was in Burma fighting Japanese troops during WWII

Harry Southern, also a resident at Royal Star & Garter, was serving in the Navy and preparing for a 'suicide trip', when atomic bombs dropped by America on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced the Japanese to surrender.

Harry was a Leading Seaman, serving on a small 18-man motor launch (ML).

On VJ Day, the 97-year-old was in Trincomalee in Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka), where his ML was having a refit.

He said: "The reason for the refit was to have sound amplifying equipment installed which would make the noise of an armada out at sea.

"The idea was we would cause a diversion to the Japanese, who would think there was an invasion coming down the West coast of Burma. And the diversion would obviously embarrass them because them because it was maybe three vessels playing gramophone records, just three 18-man crews involved.

"We were putting ourselves in a great deal of danger. You could regard it in some ways as a suicide trip. If they investigated, we were in trouble. But the bombs dropped, and the refit was stopped."

Harry Southern serving in the Navy during WWII (Image: Royal Star & Garter)

Harry stressed any relief he felt at the Japanese surrender was later tempered by the devastation caused to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

He added: "I was out there nearly another nine months before I was drafted home. And we didn't know the extent of the death and destruction it caused. It filtered through later."

Both Peter and Harry went on to receive Burma Star medals.

The Surbiton care home will mark VJ Day with events and activities which include live music from Swingtime Sweethearts.

Royal Star & Garter is welcoming new residents. Visit their site now for further information and to discover more on their work with war veterans.