Memories of those who have served and those who fell before the end of the Second World War have been carried forward, 80 years on.
Services across the nation marked the Victory in the Pacific anniversary on Friday, with commemorations held at the Sydney Cenotaph, the National War Memorial in Canberra, the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, the State War Memorial in Perth and the National War Memorial in Adelaide.
Braving frosty conditions, Maureen Bell, from Brighton in Melbourne’s southeast, commemorated her father Bert Jones’ memory, proudly wearing his war medals at the Shrine.
She remembered her dad as one of many who never talked seriously about the war, instead telling funny stories of his service to ease the memory of terrible times.
“He said he was called Screamer because they would play AFL football in New Guinea and he’d jump up and take a mark and everybody would say that was a screamer of a mark,” she reminisced.
“But I found out decades later that dad was called Screamer because he was really loud.”
Ms Bell said she was proud of her dad’s legacy, but lamented the human race hasn’t learnt from past mistakes.
“It’s important to honour those that have gone before us and made incredible sacrifices, endured horrendous torture and sadness, but we don’t seem to learn from it,” she told AAP.
“We keep doing it unfortunately.”
Phil Ward attended the Sydney service to honour his father’s legacy in the 2/20th battalion in Singapore, having survived internment and the Burma railway.
The commemorations represented the “enduring gratitude” to those who defend our freedoms, Mr Ward said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese marked VP Day, when Japan accepted the Allied forces’ terms of surrender sparking the end of World War II, by paying tribute to soldiers’ courage and the stories of endless longing for the home many never saw again.
Almost one million Australians served in uniform during the war, but 40,000 never got to see its conclusion.
About 66,000 were wounded, while many thousands more became prisoners of war, with 8000 dying in captivity.
“Every life and dream and future swallowed in that vortex of madness and cruelty, from every battlefield and every burning city, from the prisoner of war camps to the unprecedented horror of the concentration camps,” Mr Albanese said.
“These were nightmares made real – not by monsters but by human beings in a grotesque perversion of humanity.”
Despite the jubilation that came from the victory, there was also sorrow for those who perished.
RSL Victoria President Mark Schroffel said there were countless unsung heroes who never returned home to tell their stories or had the chance to have a family.
“That’s particularly sad for them, and hopefully what we’re doing today will help preserve their memory,” he said.
“The sacrifice and the loss was a terrible time for the world and we need to remember that even though a victory was declared, nobody really wins.”
Australia played a significant role in the Pacific during World War II, fighting against Japan from 1941 to 1945.
Initially, Australian forces engaged in campaigns in Malaya and Singapore.
After the bombing of Darwin in February 1942, the focus shifted to defending the Australian mainland and supporting the US-led counteroffensive in the Pacific.
Federal Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh said the day marked the end of a great darkness – brought on by the most devastating global conflict in human history.
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