PEACE and anti-arms campaigners gathered across Britain today to mark the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to call for nuclear disarmament.

Events were organised nationwide by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) on the day of the bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945.

A second bomb was dropped by the United States in Nagasaki on August 9.

Tens of thousands of people died in the unjustified attacks, both instantaneously and from burns and the shock in the following days, as well as from radiation for years after.

Since then, the number of nations with nuclear weapons and the sizes of their arsenals has only grown.

The annual Hiroshima Day commemoration in Tavistock Square Gardens in London heard Peace and Justice Project founder Jeremy Corbyn plead for greater peace and security across the globe and an end to the catastrophic nuclear arms race.

London CND co-chairwoman Hannah Kemp-Welch told of her recent visit to Hiroshima where she saw for herself the struggles still being waged by the “hibakusha,” the ageing survivors of the deadly attack.

“They don't just think of themselves, they actively work for a nuclear-free world,” she told the hundreds of peace campaigners gathered.

Mr Corbyn, the MP for Islington North and former Labour leader, said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has told the Commons that he expected the country to be at war by 2030 but “he didn’t say who with or why and what steps he intended to take to stop it.

“This was typical of the cavalier approach to war that seems to exist at the moment,” he said.

Mr Corbyn explained that most of the conflicts taking place around the world are to do with resources, saying: “As we stand here, we may be about to see a conflict begin in west Africa over the coup in Niger.

“It is telling that one of the very first things that the new military regime did was to halt the export of uranium to France.

“While much of that uranium will be used for electricity, some of it will also be enriched and used for nuclear weapons.”

Mr Corbyn added that there is a need to “prioritise people over warfare and end this lie that it is possible to win a ‘tactical’ nuclear exchange.”

“We need to be the ones to keep campaigning for peace,” he said.

Bristol CND and Extinction Rebellion — Peace Bristol campaigners began a Peace Gathering, a four-day event in Castle Park, with a “die-in” event and the start of a “fast for peace,” which will continue until Wednesday.

Bristol CND chairwoman Hannah Tweddell said: “The recently released Oppenheimer film demonstrates how nuclear weapons started but how will they end? 

“On the 78th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki we call for the abolition of all nuclear weapons for a safer and more peaceful future. 

“We ask Bristol City Council to become a nuclear ban community in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”

In northern England, commemorations took place in Hull, Skipton, Bradford, Sheffield, Littleborough and Manchester.

Further events on Wednesday commemorating the bombing of Nagasaki will take place in Leeds, Keighley and Manchester.

CND general secretary Kate Hudson warned that the world is “closer than ever” to nuclear war, while the British government is “leading the charge on greater militarisation.”

“Let us do our utmost to prevent the same catastrophe happening again,” she wrote on her blog.

“Let us take action to prevent our politicians catapulting us into nuclear war — and the destruction of all life on this planet.”