Today is the 70th anniversary of VE day and it's actually have quite a lot of coverage here in the UK given that there are other things happening today.
There were a few quite moving interviews with veterans on Radio 4 this morning - including one with a chap who had fought in Europe and was, like many others, about to be shipped out to the Far East to help the US invade Japan.
He was, perhaps understandably, delighted to hear that Japan had been bombed.
Personally, I think the motivations for using the atomic bombs on Japan are complex and unclear - even with hindsight.
I don't think the motivations were unclear at all: They were in a Total War where there was no distinction between military and civilian targets, and they had a new, powerful weapon; of course they were gonna use it. There was never a discussion as to whether use it or not. The immediate political effects of the bombs, if they were really the main factor in Japan's decision to surrender for instance, are indeed murky, though it was most probably Soviets entering the war that did it more than the bombs.
