Hiroshima, near the epicentre of the atomic blast, August 1945. At least 129,000 Japanese died as an immediate result of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Photographer unknown, AWM0451

Members of the 7th Australian Division and Royal Australian Navy Beach Commandos pray during a thanksgiving service held at a Salvation Army hut on Milford Highway, Balikpapan, Borneo, 15 August 1945. Photographer unknown, 113205

Members of the Royal Australian Air Force listen to radio broadcasts announcing the surrender of Japan, Labuan, North Borneo, 15 August 1945. Photo: John Harrison. Photographer unknown, OG3143

A group of Australian Women’s Army Service members and two soldiers read a special edition of Guinea Gold announcing the end of the war, Lae, New Guinea, 15 August 1945. Photograph by D. H. Wilson, AWM094950

Five newly liberated Australian prisoners of war in Singapore, September 1945. Most families of prisoners of the Japanese knew very little about the fate of their loved ones, some of whom had been in captivity for three and a half years. Photograph by Zina Oliver, P01182.005

Soldiers and civilians celebrate VP Day on the streets of Adelaide, South Australia, 15 August 1945. Photographer unknown, Adelaide Newspapers Limited. P02018.411  

A crowd gathered in Martin Place, Sydney, on 15 August 1945, with celebrations including a march of 50,000 servicemen and servicewomen, veterans and auxiliary personnel, and a thanksgiving service in the Domain. An estimated crowd of a million people thronged to the city to participate in celebrations. Photographer unknown, 113810

The war’s end saw large public religious services and commemorations across the country. On 16 August 1945, crowds gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne for a memorial service. Photographer unknown, 112684

Soldiers and civilians celebrate VP Day in a Brisbane street. Photographer unknown, P10364.003

(Left to right): Betty Williams, Lois Anne Martin and possibly Carmel O’Connor, from the Kokoda factory, Abbotsford, celebrate VP Day in Melbourne. Martin knitted the vest in anticipation of the Allies’ victory and wore it on 15 August 1945. She never wore it again. The vest is on display in the permanent Second World War galleries. Photographer unknown, P02018.226 

Sailors and civilians “skipping in George Street”, outside the Criterion Hotel in Brisbane, 15 August 1945. General Douglas MacArthur’s General Headquarters was situated nearby in the AMP Building on Queen Street between 1942 and 1944. Photographer unknown, P10364.005

Flight Lieutenant Athol Graham meets his young son. Graham had left Australia in June 1942 and returned home to Melbourne in October 1945 after serving with the Royal Air Force in Burma. Photographer unknown, Argus Newspaper Collection, State Library of Victoria. H98.100/3897 

Members of the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service and the Royal Australian Navy wait in the Domain for the VP Day service to commence, Sydney, 15 August 1945. Photographer unknown, 113744

General Sir Thomas Blamey signs the instrument of surrender on behalf of Australia aboard the USS Missouri, as General Douglas MacArthur (far left) looks on, Tokyo Bay, Japan, 2 September 1945. Photographer unknown, 040969

A defeated Japanese soldier on Muschu Island after the surrender of Japanese to Australian forces in the Wewak area, New Guinea, 11 September 1945. More than 100,000 Japanese died fighting in Papua and New Guinea during the war. Photographer unknown, 096134

Some of the 8th Australian Division captured in 1942 and released from Naoetsu prisoner of war camp and brought to Yokohama, Japan, in preparation for their return to Australia, September 1945. The flag was handmade from pieces of coloured parachutes used to drop supplies to prisoners by Allied aircraft. Standing in front of the flag is believed to be Aboriginal serviceman Private Frederick Beale. His brother, Private George Beale died while a prisoner in Japan in 1943. Photographer unknown, 019178

In Koepang Harbour, officers and ratings aboard mine-sweeping sloop HMAS Moresby watch delegates sign the instrument of surrender of Japanese forces on Timor, 11 September 1945. Photograph by Flight Lieutenant John Harrison, OG3484

Left to right: Australian army nurses Captain Kay Parker and Lieutenants Lorna Whyte, Daisy Keast and Mavis Cullen are met by family and friends at Mascot, Sydney, 13 September 1945. They had been captured by the Japanese in Rabaul in January 1942 and taken to Japan as prisoners of war. Photographer unknown, 115953

Lieutenant Edith Melrose nurses newly liberated prisoners of war from Changi, including Lieutenants Allen McPhee (top bunk) and Howard Farrelly (bottom bunk, without glasses) aboard the 2/1st AHS Manunda, Singapore, 13 September 1945. Photographer unknown, 116046

Soldiers from the 11th Division on New Britain have their papers checked before boarding HMAS Westralia for return to Australia, 8 December 1945. Photographer unknown, 099391

, Royal Park, Melbourne, 23 October 1945. Photographer unknown, 117406

Former Australian prisoners of war arrive at Kallang airport, Singapore, from Bangkok, Thailand, 25 September 1945. These amputees were transported and cared for by a Royal Australian Air Force medical air evacuation flight. Photographer unknown, 119706

Graves at No. 2 Cemetery at the prisoner of war camp at Sandakan, north-east Borneo, 27 October 1945. Only six of the 2,500 Australian and British prisoners of war sent to Sandakan in 1942 survived the war. Most were killed during 1945 at Sandakan, during the death marches, or at Ranau. Photograph by Sergeant Frank Burke. 120495

New Guineans working with an Australian war graves unit unload caskets from a battlefield cemetery at Maprik for reburial in the Wewak war cemetery at Cape Moem, 23 October 1945. This casket and the remains of Australians killed in New Guinea were later reinterned in Lae War Cemetery. Photographer unknown, 098146

The Parker siblings from Bundarra, NSW, served during the war. Corporal June Parker, Gunner Jack Parker and Lieutenant Nance Hopton (née Parker) were discharged in 1946. Naval Cadet Robert Parker later joined the army and travelled to Japan with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force before serving in the Korean War. Photographer unknown, P03874.001