Thousands of Jewish soldiers fought in the Far East, none more famously than Lieutenant Colonel Mordaunt Cohen , who commanded the 251 West African Heavy Anti-Aircraft Unit in Burma.

Brian Bloom, national chairman of Ajex, said the Lt Col, who received a Burma Star, was "incredible".

He also commended another soldier who served in the Far East, David Arkush, who died a few months ago at the age of 100.

Mr Bloom said the British Army dentist, who was held as a prisoner of war in Thailand from 1941 until the end of the war, was "an exceedingly brave and modest man".

Mr Arkush, the father of current Board of Deputies president Jonathan, used the knowledge he had gathered from his chazan father, Rev Shmuel Arkush, to create a Seder for the 40 Jewish prisoners of war in the Chungkai camp.

"He built his own dentist's chair out of bamboo and administered to the officers and prisoners," said Mr Bloom. "He also unfortunately buried several of them. After the war he actually went back twice to Chungkai and visited every single Jewish grave he'd buried people in, and said Kaddish over them."

Jewish civilians caught up in the war in the Far East fared better under Japanese occupation than their European counterparts did under the Nazis, with no systemic persecution put in place.

Over 30,000 Jews were living in Shanghai when the Japanese invaded, and there were communities in the Philippines and Indonesia.

The Japanese did not single out Jews for restrictions because of their ethnic or religious origin, and Tokyo resisted pressure from its Nazi allies to subject them to special treatment. Only Jews left without citizenship because of the Nazi invasion of their European homelands were put under extra surveillance.

VJ Day commemoration events are taking place around the country on Saturday, with veterans attending a special ceremony at Horse Guards Parade in London.