Victory in the Pacific (VP) Day marks Japan's unconditional surrender to the Allies after more than 3 years of war. It's a time for us to reflect on the contribution of Australian veterans in ending the war in the Pacific region.
Service men and civilians celebrate in the streets of Sydney at the news of the Japanese surrender, August 1945. SLV an012975
Significance of the date
Victory in the Pacific Day - or 'VP Day' - is commemorated across Australia and the world. As the anniversary of the day World War II ended, it's a date that we'll never forget.
On 15 August 1945, Japan accepted the Allied Nations' terms of surrender and Australia's Prime Minister, Ben Chifley, announced that the war was over.
Australia at war
World War II is a significant event in Australia's history. Nearly 1 million Australians served in the armed forces during the war. It was also the first time since European settlement that Australia came under attack.
On VP Day, we remember Australia's war efforts from 1942 to 1945 in the Pacific region, including in Singapore, Borneo, Malaya, Papua, New Guinea and New Britain. It was a time when people worked hard and cooperated to defend the nation.
We commemorate those who served in the war. Some 40,000 Australians didn't return home to their families. Over 17,000 of them lost their lives while fighting in the war against Japan, some 8,000 of whom died in Japanese captivity.
Allied victories in Europe and the Pacific
The Allied successes of the previous year marked 1945 as a year of inevitability. It was only a matter of time before the Allies would defeat both Germany and Japan.
A depiction of a kamikaze attack on HMAS Australia during the Battle of Lingayen Gulf in 1945, painted by Frank Norton, the Royal Australian Navy's first official artist in World War II. AWM ART27552
Action in the Pacific
In the Philippines, Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships fought in the Battle of Lingayen Gulf in January. HMAS Australia was again the target of suspected kamikaze attacks.
A plane crash claimed prominent Australian wartime leaders when a RAAF Lockheed Hudson A16-118 carrying Major-General Vasey and Major-General Rupert Downes plunged into the sea north of Cairns, Queensland, on 5 March, killing all on board.
War in Europe
Bombing missions continued over Germany. The near complete destruction of Dresden in February was another example of the war’s horror being visited upon civilian populations.
Australian aircrew continued to suffer casualties in missions over Europe.
The Allied advances into European territory formerly occupied by Germany began to reveal the full extent of the debased nature of Hitler's Nazi regime. Death camps were discovered and liberated throughout Europe. Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker at the end of April.
Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini had been captured and executed a few days before Hitler’s death.
Discussions to establish a new organisation to replace the League of Nations had begun. In June, the United Nations was established.
Deaths of leaders
The stress of war arguably played a role in the deaths of the United States President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Prime Minister of Australia, John Curtin. Both men had carried the weight of their nation’s wartime decision-making and would be denied the satisfaction of seeing the final victory. Roosevelt died suddenly on 12 April, aged 63. Curtin died on 5 July after a long illness, aged 60.
Operation OBOE
Australian operations in Borneo began with the 9th Division’s landing at Tarakan on 1 May. Landings at Labuan Island and Brunei Bay followed in June. In July, the 7th Division landed at Balikpapan. Codenamed Operation OBOE, the landings were controversial.
Many people argued that the OBOE landings were unnecessary given Japan’s weakened state, and the fact that it seemed possible to bypass and cut off garrisons in this part of Asia and the Pacific as US forces drew even closer to the Japanese home islands. Nevertheless, they were successfully carried out by Australian troops.
Japan's surrender
Fighting continued in New Guinea and Solomon Islands. The Australian 6th Division captured Wewak in May, while the II Australian Corps' (militia) campaign on Bougainville was ongoing, as was the 5th Division's (militia) in New Britain.
By July, Japan's home islands were under constant attack from the guns of the British and American naval fleets and from carrier-borne air raids.
In August, the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Russia's declaration of war against Japan, and the smashing victory its armies won in Manchuria, were enough to finally convince Emperor Hirohito to surrender. On 15 August, Japan surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. Fighting was over.
TERRIFIC BOMBARDMENT OF JAPAN, Singleton Argus (NSW), 18 July 1945, p.1. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82067425
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Discover Australian history through the experiences and stories of veterans who served in our armed forces.
Victory in the Pacific 1945
This book in our the series, Australians in the Pacific War, explores the end of the war. The Australian Government marked the day with a one-off holiday: 'Victory in the Pacific Day'. Read online or download it.
Glossary
- Allies
- surrender