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Exeter Quakers are hosting a socially distanced peace vigil on Sunday, August 9, from 10:45am until 11:15am, at the Exeter Peace Tree in Southernhay

A service marking 75 years since the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki is being held in Exeter, Devon.

Exeter Quakers are hosting a socially distanced peace vigil on Sunday, August 9, from 10:45am until 11:15am.

The vigil will be held at the Exeter Peace Tree in Southernhay, opposite the United Reform Church, exactly 75 years since the second atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city.

The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 1945 killed up to a quarter of a million people, half of them instantly, leaving shadows of some people etched on the ground.

A spokesperson from the Exeter Quakers said: Ever since they have been a reminder of the immorality of nuclear weapons.

The vigil will take place in front of the Japanese Cherry Tree planted by the Lord Mayor of Exeter in February 2005 to mark Exeter joining mayors of towns and cities around the world, including 90 in the UK, to declare a commitment to work for a nuclear free world.

The organisation, based in Hiroshima, declares: We pledge to make every effort to create an inter-city solidarity, transcending national boundaries and ideological differences, in order to achieve the total abolition of nuclear weapons and avert the recurrence of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki tragedies.

The spokesperson added: As Quakers we hold working for peace as one of our core testimonies and have been prominent in the peace movement in Britain and around the world.

The event will be introduced by Exeter Quaker Laura Conyngham, who will recall her powerful visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

She said: While I was at the tomb, a group of citizens asked me to lay a bouquet for a photograph to illustrate a guidebook for tourists. I felt utterly guilty.

For further information contact Ian Martin on 07980 301058 or Laura Conyngham on 01363 773000.

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Exeter vigil will mark 75th anniversary of Hiroshima bomb - In Your Area