“we sang, we danced and we all held hands”

To mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, John Eskdale and other survivors share their harrowing memories of war and stories of hope

13 AUGUST

I WAS minding my own business, checking my reflection in a shop window just along from Piccadilly. Then some American G.I. grabbed my arm, pulled me towards him and gave me an overly enthusiastic kiss

Although war with Germany’s ally Japan was thought likely, and its ambitions of seizing natural resources it lacked were well known, the surprise air attack on the US Navy’s base at Pearl Harbor on Oa

15 AUGUST

Matt Elton Your new series, exploring fighting on the Asian front during the Second World War, is called The History Podcast: The Second Map. Why did you choose that name? Kavita Puri It came to me af