A powerful new sculpture by renowned artist Ray Lonsdale will be unveiled this week to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, paying tribute to the countless prisoners of war who suffered under Japanese captivity during World War II. The evocative piece, titled "Humanity - The Forgotten Army," depicts Sunderland POW Len Gibson, who was imprisoned on the notorious Burma Death Railway and endured years of unimaginable treatment at the hands of his captors.
The statue captures a poignant moment from Gibson's liberation, showing him handing his homemade guitar to a young local Thai boy as a symbol of peace and forgiveness. Gibson had crafted the makeshift instrument to entertain his fellow prisoners during their darkest hours, and if you look carefully at the sculpture, you can see the small amount of money he had earned rolled up inside the guitar as a gift for the child. Tragically, Len Gibson passed away on July 31, 2021, at the remarkable age of 101, but his inspiring story continues to touch countless lives.
The unveiling ceremony will take place at 11:00 AM on Friday, August 15, at South Shields Town Hall, with plans to permanently install the sculpture in North Marine Park beginning in December. This latest work joins an impressive collection of Lonsdale's sculptures throughout the region, including installations in Seaham, St. Peters Riverside, and Keel Square in Sunderland. The South Hetton-based artist has become known for his emotionally resonant public art that honors local heroes and historical figures.
Brian Burnie, the 81-year-old boss of Daft as a Brush Cancer Patient Care and a longtime friend of Len Gibson, has privately funded this moving tribute to all prisoners of war, many of whom never returned home. Burnie organizes an annual VJ Day Memorial Walk on August 15, and this year's route will lead from Newcastle Civic Centre to South Shields Town Hall, culminating in the sculpture's unveiling and a memorial service. "This year is very different," Burnie explained. "It's the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan and marks the official end of the Second World War. This wonderful statue by Ray Lonsdale will be such a moving tribute to all those who never came home and to those veterans who suffered so much."
Two centenarian veterans, Dennis Carr and Tom Davidson, will have the honor of unveiling the statue alongside other veterans during the ceremony. The significance of VJ Day extends beyond the more commonly celebrated VE Day (Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945), as it marked the true end of World War II. Many prisoners of war continued to endure extreme conditions, disease, and torture in Japanese camps for months after the European celebrations had ended, making their sacrifice all the more profound.
The sculpture tells the deeply personal story of Gibson's character and resilience. Later in life, Gibson adopted one of the Daft as a Brush ambulances, and children at his former school, where he had worked as a music teacher, created artwork for the vehicle and named it "Len Guitar Gibson" in his honor. His daughter Jennifer and other family members will attend the unveiling ceremony, joined by numerous dignitaries including council leader Councilor Tracey Dixon, representation from the King by Vice Lord-Lieutenant Lieutenant General Robin Brims, and many other supporters.
Sculptor Ray Lonsdale shared the inspiration behind his latest work, explaining how a specific story from Gibson's experience captured his imagination. "Brian asked me to come up with some ideas for a memorial statue, so I read the book Len wrote and there was one story that really stood out," Lonsdale said. "Len had made a makeshift guitar to entertain his friends while he was captured, inside that guitar was a very small amount of money he had made. Just as he was about to get on a plane after liberation, Len gave the guitar with the money inside to a Thai child; to me that's special. After all that time of being purely tortured and all the discomfort and aggression, just to give that gift before he came home was such a nice touch and really tells the story of the man."
