Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the repatriation of over 125,000 British prisoners of war and the subsequent Long March between January and May 1945.

There are plans to mark the Long March, and the subsequent repatriation of the Prisoners of War (under Operation EXODUS) on Defence social media channels in 2025. This will form part of the wider VEDay80 and VJDay80 Communications campaigns, aiming to educate younger generations to the sacrifices made by our Second World War veterans. Defence has supported, and will continue to support, the commemoration of key events of 80 years ago that signalled the end of World War Two. This includes the anniversaries of the Battle of Monte Cassino, D-Day, and Operation Market Garden; my Department will also work with others into 2025 to commemorate the significant anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day.