Download Victory in the Pacific (VP) Day

Victory in the Pacific (VP) Day
__________________________________________________________________________________
Australians who served
 Australians served from each of the
three services; Army, Navy and Air
Force.
Casualties
 More than 39,000 Australians died
during the Second World War.
 More than 17,000 Australians lost
their lives in the war against Japan.
Some Key Battles across the Pacific
 Kokoda (1942)
 Milne Bay (1942)
 Battle of Wau (1943)
 Battle of the Bismarck Sea (1943)
 Salamaua-Lae Campaign (1943)
 Finisterre Range Campaign (1943–44)
 Huon Peninsula Campaign (1943–44)
 Bougainville Campaign (1943–45)
 New Britain Campaign (1943–45)
 Admiralty Islands Campaign (1944)
 Battle of Leyte Gulf (1944)
 Aitape-Wewak Campaign (1944-45)
 Western New Guinea Campaign
(1944–45)
Commemoration
 VP Day is commemorated on
15 August each year.
While Victory in Europe was
declared in May 1945, fighting in
the Pacific region continued until
August 1945.
The Japanese ceasefire took effect on
15 August 1945, following the threat
of invasion and Allied bombings. The
official surrender ceremony,
however, took place on 2 September
1945 on the deck of USS Missouri in
Tokyo Bay.
Following the official surrender
ceremony, a number of other
surrender ceremonies were held at
locations throughout the Pacific,
including Cape Wom, at Wewak in
northern New Guinea; Rabaul on
New Britain; Bougainville; Kuching,
Balikpapan, Jesselton (now Kota
Kinabalu), and Sandakan in Borneo;
Hong Kong; Timor; and Nauru.
To mark Victory in the Pacific, the
Australian Government gazetted a
public holiday, declaring it Victory in
the Pacific Day, or VP Day.
Some other nations, such as Britain,
the United Stated and New Zealand
declared it Victory in Japan, or VJ
Day.
Australian involvement in the Pacific
Australian troops engaged with Japan
in Papua New Guinea, Malaya,
Bougainville and New Britain.
Australians are most well known for
their efforts in the Pacific in the
Papua New Guinea campaigns of
1942: Kokoda and Milne Bay.
World War. In total, six Australian
divisions, supported by the Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the Royal
Australian Navy (RAN), were in action
against the Japanese throughout the
Pacific.
In late 1944, the Australians took over
former American bases in northern New
Guinea, on Bougainville and on New
Britain, with the aim of defeating the
large number of Japanese forces that
remained there.
The Japanese, despite being cut off from
their supply base at Rabaul, and often
having to rely on their own resources for
survival, refused to concede defeat. They
continued to engage in long and costly
battles with the Australians.
In New Guinea, between November 1944
and August 1945, the 6th Division fought
in the Aitape-Wewak region.
On Bougainville, the Australian 3rd
Division, together with troops from the
11th and 13th Brigades, conducted
demanding patrols interspersed with
some sharp fighting. Costly battles were
fought at Slater's Knoll in March and April
in 1945.
Meanwhile, the 5th Division undertook
difficult operations on the island of New
Britain, pushing the Japanese back
towards Rabaul.
In 1945, Australian forces launched three
military actions against Japanese-held
Borneo, at Tarakan; Labuan-Brunei Bay;
and Balikpapan. These were the biggest
Australian campaigns of the Second
World War.
In these campaigns, more than 500
Australians died and more than 1,400
were wounded.
However, Australians also supported
the Allied cause in the Pacific
towards the latter half of the Second
For more info contact DVA Media
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +61 (0) 2 6289 6203