IT wasn't his fellow Far East prisoners of war or the presence of the Queen that brought a lump to the throat of Robert (Bob) Huckelsby from Poole, it was the crowds of young people applauding as the veterans marched down Whitehall.

"It was very moving," said the 94-year-old president of the National Far East Prisoner of War Fellowship Welfare Remembrance Association, which organised the service to mark the 70th anniversary of VJ Day at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London.

"In Whitehall I saw all these young people clapping, that got to me," said the former Royal Engineer who suffered more than 3½ years as a prisoner of war of the Japanese and survived four camps and working on the railway in Thailand, and two camps in Singapore.

"There were so many who didn't come back," he said. "Where I was one in five didn't come back."

So that made it vitally important to mark the 70th anniversary of VJ Day, which signified the end of the Second World War.

Bob and his association, whose vice-chairman and honorary solicitor is Ian Andrews, former chief executive of Poole Council, started organising the service 18 months ago and had allocated all 950 tickets.

However with about three weeks to go the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh asked to attend as did Prime Minister David Cameron.

"The veterans were so pleased to see all these crowds turn out," he said. "They were seven to 10 deep all the way down Whitehall."

Bob arrived home on the Princess Giovanna at Southampton in October 1945 suffering from severe malnutrition, malaria, dysentery and lockjaw and his poor eyesight and hearing is a lasting legacy.

In 1950 he got involved with Far East prisoner welfare and for 23 years was chairman of the local branch of the PoW association.

“The Japanese regime at the time was very brutal,” he said. "I was fortunate to come home. I couldn't just leave it at that, I had to help."

And he was delighted by the huge amount of publicity brought by the Queen's attendance. "She was very nice. I thanked her for coming to our service," said the former Poole Council town planning officer.

"I'm grateful for people to have the opportunity to remember. We must never forget those who are not here."