Exeat: Day 137/84: 75th Anniversary of Hiroshima

The globe's most tragic of moments …. followed just 3 days later, after Japanese misinformation to its communities, by a second A-bomb on Nagasaki. And then finally by August 15th VJ Day, the Japanese surrender, with HRH The Prince Phillip on board as 2nd in command of the destroyer HMS Whelp in Tokyo Bay. Below the Hiroshima Dome that survived is pictured with today's Peace Memorial Park & Museum. What the Allies achieved in its aftermath under the determined leadership of General Macarthur was the creation of today's thriving democracy and economy with their Emperor continuing as constitutional sovereign.

Today is Jamaica Independence Day. Jamaica was one of the first colonies in the so-called Spanish New World and its rule began in 1509 and left an architectural heritage still honoured today [picture left below]. It wasn't until 1655 that the island was taken by the British. The invasion took place in May during the 1654 to 1660 Anglo-Spanish War as part of an ambitious plan by Oliver Cromwell to acquire new colonies in the Americas known as the Western Design. Post WWII, with the break up of the British Empire Jamaica had several amendments to its constitution to allow greater self-government and its own Prime Minister becoming a founding member of the West Indies Federation in 1958, a political union of various islands in the Caribbean that were colonies of the United Kingdom. However by September 1961 Jamaican dissatisfaction with the Federation and the slow pace of moves to independence led to a referendum in Jamaica that resulted in 54% of voters wanting to leave. Elections in 1962 were won by the Jamaica Labour Party under the leadership of Alexander Bustamante which led to the Jamaica Independence Act being passed by the United Kingdom Parliament granting independence on August 6th 1962 within The Commonwealth. The Jamaican flag was flown for the first time with Bustamante Jamaica's first Prime Minister. The main Independence Day celebration is The Jamaica Festival with a grand parade, traditional music and the World Reggae Dance Final!

No Travellers at Tesco Click & Collect. I rode ShotGun to Tescos for Avril's Click & Collect tonight; we were also doing good works for our quarantined family at the Big House. Star purchase was 5 kilos of granulated sugar bought because of an absence of 1 kilos; many fallen cooking apples to be sauced in the coming weeks. Snag was the bag had fractured …. then add to that a minor plague of flying ants by the back door and I was back in Madeira when we were invaded by them followed by Kelantan in Malaysia when Anne's apartment's shower was home to thousands …. but there were no Travellers encamped. Turned out to have been a false alarm/ rumour. They were parked at Tescos whilst in town for a big funeral! No fish pie this week asked for or received; it's gonna be cajuned salmon with luck and Jersey Royals; our bin bagged spuds are now exhausted.