WE’RE FREE BECAUSE OF THEIR SACRIFICE
THIS weekend, Australians will commemorate the end of World War II, remembering those who served and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for Australia’s freedom.
Almost one million Australians served in the conflict against Germany and Italy in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa, against Japan in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and on the home front.
Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) is celebrated on August 15, the day on which Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. However, the official surrender document was not signed until September 2, 1945, in Japan’s Tokyo Bay, aboard the battleship USS Missouri. The surrender came after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, combined with the major Soviet offensive into Manchuria starting on August 9, which put the Japanese in a hopeless strategic situation, leading to demands of unconditional surrender.
On August 13, 1945, leading up to the signing of peace, Townsville crowds lined footpaths from Blackwood and Flinders street intersections to watch celebrations led by the Townsville Citizens Band and the Salvation Army Band ( pictured above).
Thousands of spectators looked on as a procession featuring the two bands and the popular Scottish pipers and Scottish lassies led a large number of soldiers and citizens through the street and into Anzac Park where mayor John Stewart Mitchell Gill addressed crowds.
World War II was the first time a foreign threat had been brought to Australian shores, with the Japanese bombing northern parts of the country, including Townsville, and attacking Sydney Harbour with midget submarines. More than 27,000 Australians lost their lives in the war, more than 17,000 died in the Pacific theatre and 30,000 were taken prisoner.
About 12,000 living veterans remain today.