VJ Day

VJ (Victory over Japan) Day was announced on 15 August 1945 bringing the Second World War to an end. The formal surrender had been signed a few weeks earlier on the decks of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September. Image © IWM (EA 75893)

“The War is over…those four words have for the Queen and myself the same significance – simple yet immense – that they have for you. Our hearts are overflowing.”

KING GEORGE VI, 15 AUGUST 1945