Nuclear fall-out and remembrance

Earlier this month, MPs voted for Trident renewal by 472 votes to 117 – a majority of 355, including nearly all Conservative Party members and half of Labour, even though Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong unilateralist, and many Scottish National Party MPs opposed this decision, writes Zelly Restorick. In remembrance of the use of nuclear weaponry and its consequences, Hastings Against War will hold a service for those who lost their lives in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, with a ceremony at the boating lake in Alexandra Park on Tuesday August 9th. 

Talking about the remembrance service, John Enefer of Hastings Against War says: “At least 185,000 people are estimated to have died when US Air Force planes bombed the cities. The fatalities happened as a result of the initial blasts, due to fires sparked by the bombs, and as a result of radiation sickness caused by the explosions. Dwight Eisenhower, the commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War 2, later related: ‘Japan was at the very moment seeking some way to surrender… It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing’.

“The attacks on the Japanese cities remain the only occasions when nuclear weapons have been used in war and are marked each year in gatherings around the world. The ceremony in Hastings will be opened by Mayor Judy Rodgers, followed by singing by Las Pasionarias. Finally, at sunset, floating lanterns will be released on the lake, in the traditional Japanese style.

“Everyone is welcome to attend the free event, which begins at 8.15pm.

“You are also welcome to join us in making the lanterns at our regular meeting, Tuesday 2 August at 7.30pm in the Friends (Quaker) Meeting House, South Terrace, Hastings TN34 1SA. We meet in the ground floor hall – accessible to all. Please bring your own scissors and stapler, we provide the paper.”

Remembrance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Alexandra Park boating lake, 8.15pm on 9 August 2016.

Information about Hastings Against War here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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