Remembering Nagasaki 2024

On Friday, 9th of August, London Region CND supported Nagasaki Day Commemorations in Pimlico and Battersea Park

Starting in Holy Apostles Catholic Church, Pimlico, the service was organised by Pax Christi, and Andrew Jackson led the reflection. Commemorating World War II conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter, the service was a moment for reflection on his life and other conscientious objectors. It featured prayers, reflective music, and hymns, encouraging attendees to remember those who bravely took a stand. On the 79th anniversary of the second nuclear bomb used against a civilian population in Nagasaki, the service served as a stark reminder of the ongoing dangers of nuclear warfare.

Following the service, attendees joined the interfaith pilgrimage to the Pece Pagoda in Battersea Park where Shigeo Kobayashi led the Nagasaki Day Commemorations. The programme included water sprinkling and blessing from Rev. Nagase Shonin, prayers from faith leaders, speeches from Carol Turner and Shigeo and a musical performance from Bridgette Bennett.

View a video of the event on our Facebook page.

Hiroshima Commemoration 2024

On Tuesday, the 6th of August, London CND hosted the annual Hiroshima remembrance commemorations in Tavistock Square. Singing through the rain, spirits undampened, Raised Voices opened a packed program of speeches, musical performances, and moments of reflection. Carol Turner, Chair of London CND, followed with opening remarks. Highlighting the 1985 Geneva summit that began a Soviet-US dialogue aimed at reducing nuclear risks, promoting non-proliferation and – eventually – nuclear disarmament, Carol reminded us of the pertinence of their words as relevant now as then: “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” Following the laying of wreaths at the Hiroshima Cherry Tree, prayers were led by Reverend Gyro Nagase, offering a moment of spiritual reflection for all those in attendance.

Speeches continued with Kate Hudson, General Secretary of CND and Murad Qureshi, London CND Vice President. Kate recalled the horrors of Hiroshima but called on attendees not to be pessimistic in the face of nationalistic threats, emphasising the “global majority of peace” who want the abolition of nuclear weapons. Musical performances added thoughtful contributions. Hugh Goodwin, on guitar, offered a folk number, whilst Ann Garrett and Jenny Malca Brown led moving poetry titled Victims of Hiroshima and Excluded, respectively. Paul Steel rounded out performances with a touching number.

The event concluded with another performance by the Raised Voices choir. Hiroshima Day 2024 at Tavistock Square was a powerful reminder of the need for global nuclear disarmament and the importance of remembering the past to build a peaceful future. The event honoured the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki while reinforcing the resolve of those working to ensure such tragedies never happen again.

H-Bombs are still thundering

London CND will join in chorus again this year, when Raised Voices choir’s offer their rendition of The H-Bomb’s Thunder at our Hiroshima commemoration, on 6 August in Tavistock Square, London CND Chair Carol Turner, writes. The lyrics were penned in 1958 by CND member John Brunner for first of what became a decade-long tradition of Easter marches between Aldermaston and London. The song asks:

Will you let your cities crumble?
Will you see your children die?
Shall we lay the world in ruin?
Shall we blast, or shall we build ?

Today, as the world moves closer than ever to nuclear war, CND lays the same challenge before peace and justice campaigners and political leaders everywhere:

Stop the headlong rush to war!
Build the Peace!

John Brunner, 1934-1995, was born in the market town of Wallingford, south Oxfordshire. A passionate supporter of nuclear disarmament, John was at the start of his career as an award- winning sci-fi writer when he joined the first Aldermaston March and wrote what was to become an enduring anthem of the nuclear disarmament movement.

The H-Bomb’s Thunder

Don’t you hear the H-bomb’s thunder
Echo like the crack of doom?
While they rend the skies asunder
Fall-out makes the earth a tomb
Do you want your homes to tumble
Rise in smoke towards the sky?

Chorus:

Men and women, stand together
Do not heed the men of war
Make your minds up now or never
Ban the bomb for evermore

Tell the leaders of the nations
Make the whole wide world take heed
Poison from the radiations
Strikes at every race and creed
Must you put mankind in danger
Murder folk in distant lands?
Will you bring death to a stranger
Have his blood upon your hands?

Shall we lay the world in ruin?
Only you can make the choice
Stop and think of what you’re doing
Join the march and raise your voice
Time is short; we must be speedy
We can see the hungry filled
House the homeless, help the needy
Shall we blast, or shall we build ?

The lyrics and voice clip below are reproduced from Mark Gregory’s Union Songs, an online archive of more than 840 songs and poems by hundreds of different authors.