Roars from the Archive: VJ Day

15 August 2025

Thursday 8 May 2025 marked 80 years since VE (Victory in Europe) Day when the Second World War came to an end in Europe. However, the war in the East did not end until 15 August 1945, when Japan surrendered. The day was celebrated across the world as ‘Victory over Japan’, or VJ Day.

Within the School’s archive we are privileged to be able to not only trace our pupils’ academic successes, but also their extraordinary lives beyond the classroom. The life of Eric Slaughter OH (1936) is a prime example of this.

Eric attended Hampton Grammar School from 1931 to 1936 with his older brother George OH (1933). Amongst our Archival records we have a copy of Eric’s Science book from when he was in Form 4A. After leaving the School, Eric joined the War effort to become a Gunner. Maintaining contact with the School throughout his service, he gave no military information away in his letters; but did reliably inform the School in October 1941 that he found “his hammock very uncomfortable”.

News eventually reached the School that in February 1942 Slaughter had been captured in Singapore. After a year in Singapore making roads and aerodromes, he had been sent to Thailand. Whilst in Thailand, he had been put to work on the infamous Bangkok railway, where thousands of prisoners sadly died.

We are fortunate to have two letters, within our Archive, that Slaughter was able to send home to his Mother whilst interned as a Prisoner of War. we can only imagine the sense of relief that these letters would have given his family, despite the scarcity of information within them. Even though he contracted both malaria and dysentery, Slaughter survived his imprisonment and eventually returned home at the end of the conflict.

Eighty years after the conflict, the School’s preservation of these unique records, provides our current pupils with a rare opportunity to reflect on the personal service and sacrifices made by all those involved.