Sheffield remembers Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing victims

Sheffield's branch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament usually holds a memorial picnic to mark Hiroshima Day every year in the Japanese Garden in Meersbrook Park.

But after organisers said there had been comments that the event 'deserved a wider audience' they decided to hold this year's event in the Peace Gardens on Saturday, August 4.

The event, organised by Sheffield Creative Action for Peace and Sheffield Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament included speeches from Coun Oliva Blake, deputy leader of Sheffield Council and the Lord Mayor of Sheffield Coun Magid Magid.

Coun Blake read out a letter from the Mayor of Hiroshima and Lord Mayor Magid signed the International Mayors for Peace Declaration, committing Sheffield to work for a future free of nuclear weapons.

The Peace Choir also performed and campaigners marched a banner around the Sheffield by the Seaside event, which is currently being held in the Peace Gardens.

During the final stage of Second World War, the United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively.

The two bombings killed at least 129,000 people, most of whom were civilians. They remain the only use of nuclear weapons in the history of warfare.