On 31st July, with the support of the Lord Lieutenant, John Griff, Kevin Rogers, Hannah Brady and The All Things Business team gathered to film a short medley of wartime songs to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VJ Day.
On the 15th August 1945 Imperial Japan surrendered in World War 2, bringing the war to its official end. The day was named Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) and despite the fact that it holds huge significance in our history, it has always been overshadowed by VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) – the day which in fact marks the end of World War 2 in Europe.
Preparing for a VE Day 2020 programme, local broadcaster John Griff DL spoke to World War 2 navy veteran, Geoff. When John asked Geoff what it was like returning home after VJ Day, Geoff recalled that they were welcomed home with nothing. No throngs of cheering people on the docksides, no street parties and no more celebrations for the end of the war. Simply nothing. Nobody welcomed the forgotten army.
In light of conversations like this, John reached out to some of his local business friends to discuss a way of remembering those like Geoff who fought for us in Japan. Now, given the nature of John’s job – the act of remembrance was destined to be musical. After an initial conversation with Northampton’s very own #singingsolicitor, Kevin Rogers, Chairman of Wilson Browne Solicitors and President of the Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce, the duo decided to put a call in to Hannah Brady from The Brady Creative who also enjoys a sing song. From there, the medley was born!
The musical trio put their heads together and decided to record a medley of songs from the era, highlighting four songs in particular – “White Cliffs of Dover”, “Tipperary”, “Bless ‘Em All” and a grand finale with “We’ll Meet Again”.
The creation of the project was supported by Ben Thomas and the All Things Business Team who kindly donated their time free of charge to direct, shoot and edit the finished video, which was filmed at the fantastic Rockingham Castle. A huge thank you from everyone involved to her Majesty’s representative in the county & Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, James Saunders Watson for allowing private access to the castle for filming.
The video that the team have produced has been created using photographs from families of all four businesses and is a way of remembering 75 years since the end of World War 2. With this video, the team will also be raising money for Help for Heroes, a fantastic charity that supports the forces heroes who are in need of our help today.
Kevin Rogers said, “Above all, we hope people enjoy the video, we gave it our best shot, and are not (at all!) professionals. We would love to make Help for Heroes proud of Northamptonshire businesses as we raise funds for such an important cause, whilst remembering such a historic day.”
This is a fine example of 4 local businesses coming together to support a bigger cause.
You can watch the video that the team has produced below:
