Australian Minister Marks Victory in the Pacific (VP) Day

An Australian war veteran wears his medals, including a service medal from the Vietnam war (Far-L), at the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Service in Sydney on Aug. 18, 2016. (PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)

Australian minister has marked Victory in the Pacific (VP) Day to remind the public of the date on which victory in the pacific ended the second world war.

VP (Victory in the Pacific) Day, also referred to as VJ (Victory over Japan) Day, is celebrated on Aug. 15 to commemorate Japan’s acceptance of the Allied demand for unconditional surrender on Aug. 14, 1945.

“For Australians, it meant that the Second World War was finally over,” reads an introduction on the website of Australian War Memorial. “In August 1945 Australian governments gazetted a public holiday as VP Day, and most newspapers reported it as such.”

“Seventy-seven years ago today, the war ended in the Pacific, with Japan giving their unconditional surrender to the Allies, officially bringing an end to the Second World War,” reads a statement by Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Matt Keogh on Aug. 15.

Prime Minister Ben Chifley announcing the end of the war against Japan 15 August 1945. [V-P Announcement: Segment No. 179490 in Prime Ministers of Australia: A Compilation of Speeches and Interviews. Screensound Australia, National Screen and Sound Collection, Screensound Title No: 214438]

By the beginning of 1945, Australians had been at war for more than five years. Nearly one million Australians served during the war, around 40,000 died, and many thousands more were injured in their military service.

“On Victory in the Pacific Day, we pause to commemorate the more than 17,000 Australians who lost their lives in the war against Japan,” Keogh said.

“We remember our valiant efforts on the Australian home front, in Malaya, Singapore, Papua and New Guinea, Borneo, and elsewhere in the southwest Pacific across those three years of war.”

While the Germans surrendered on May 7, 1945, just a week after the death of Adolf Hitler, Japan fought on in the Pacific for another three months and did not surrender until the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“The threat of invasion seemed very real,” Keogh said. “It was a time when Australians worked hard and pulled together to defend our country.”

“On this day, I encourage all Australians to remember the courage and sacrifice of those who served during the Second World War.”

Minister Keogh attended commemorations in Malaysia, recognising Sandakan Memorial Day on Aug. 15. In Malaysia, Sandakan Memorial Day is acknowledged on the same date as VP Day, commemorating the prisoners of war and local civilians who died during the Japanese occupation of British Borneo.