VJ Day 80

Although we typically date the beginning of the Second World War as 1 September 1939, when Germany attacked Poland, and Britain and France declared war on Germany in response, the fighting in Asia had started much earlier.  The Empire of Japan had attacked China - itself in the middle of a bloody civil war - in 1931, seizing the province of Manchuria.  In 1937 Japan resumed hostilities with an invasion of central China, seizing the capital of Nanjing, and perpetrating one of the worst atrocities of the war, killing almost 200,000 civilians.

Bitter fighting between the Japanese and Chinese would continue for the next eight years - but in 1941 Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbour, as well as British forces across the far-east - in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.  This would prove to be a fatal mistake, with the Japanese unable to wage war on three fronts: the Chinese in the East, the British Empire in their south, and the Americans sailing from the east, across the Pacific Ocean.

Initially the Japanese surprise attacks worked well.  The American Pacific fleet lost several battleships and cruisers (though importantly, none of their aircraft carriers), and the British lost two battleships in Malaysia, and suffered humiliating defeats with the successive falls of Hong Kong and Singapore.

In 1942 the Japanese launched their invasion of British ruled Burma (now Myanmar), leading to one of the most gruelling and protracted campaigns of the entire Second World War, brutal jungle warfare that led to the deaths of over 400,000 soldiers - and as many as 1,000,000 Burmese civilians.

The Fourteenth Army that resisted the Japanese invasion, led by General William Slim, became one of the most diverse and effective fighting forces in history. Their victories at Imphal and Kohima in 1944 were turning points, halting the Japanese advance into India and pushing them back through Burma.  This saved India from the Japanese advance, and kept the supply lines between the Western Allies and the Chinese forces north of the Himalayas intact.

For the British public, the war in the East was often overshadowed by the conflict in Europe, which brought the realities of war to British towns and cities. Yet it deeply affected thousands of families whose loved ones served in the Far East. Many endured years of separation, and those captured by Japanese forces - both service personnel and civilians - faced horrific conditions in POW camps, including forced labour on the infamous Burma-Thailand Railway.  

The events of the war, and its impact on British civilians and service personnel, have been captured and memorialised in such films as The Bridge over the River Kwai, and J.G. Ballard's epic Empire of the Sun.

Over 300,000 British servicemen fought in the far-east, with almost one in ten dying in service or captivity.  They were joined by over a million other imperial troops from the rest of the Commonwealth, India and Africa, who served with great distinction, particularly as part of the Fourteenth Army.

The war reshaped Britain's global role. The immense contribution of Indian and Commonwealth troops highlighted the strength - and the strain - of the imperial system, and sowed the seeds for post-war decolonization, including the independence of what was to become Myanmar, India and Pakistan.

By mid-1945, Japan remained defiant despite devastating losses. The British had rallied, and driven the Japanese Army out of Burma, and the American island hopping strategy across the Pacific had worked perfectly, culminating in daily bombing raids of the Japanese mainland, including devastating fire bomb attacks on the capital Tokyo.  Yet the Japanese, culturally conditioned to reject surrender at any cost, were preparing to fight on, and the Americans faced a costly invasion of the Japanese home islands. 

President Truman made the decision to use the United States' secretly developed weapon, the atomic bomb.  In August 1945 the United States dropped two of these new super-weapons on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), causing an unprecedented destruction and loss of life. These bombings, combined with the Soviet Union’s declaration of war on Japan and invasion of Manchuria, forced Japan to surrender.

On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s unconditional surrender. Celebrations erupted across Britain and the rest of the world, and signalled the end to the bloodiest war in human history - one in which at least 50 million people were killed.

On this 80th Anniversary of VJ Day we hope you can join us at SSAFA and reflect on the heroism, cruelties and sacrifices of this great conflict, and acknowledge the incredible service given to our nation by the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces, both then and now.

During the Second World War SSAFA strengthened its reputation amongst the armed forces as a friend they could rely on.  The SSAFA Overseas Department helped families in Britain stay in touch with those serving in the Far East, helping keep morale high with news from home.  Offices were established in Bangalore, Lahore and Calcutta, providing SSAFA's support to the British forces in India fighting Japan.

"As Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East and India I knew and admired your work.  When I return to India as Viceroy I shall do what I can to continue to support you, and I shall be specially interested in the progress of your fourth new Enquiry Bureaux in India which I helped to establish.  

"The work these Bureaux are doing in relieving the anxieties of men in India and Burma about their home affairs if of great value."

- Field Marshall Wavell, Viceroy Designate of India, 1943

SSAFA continues to look after the men and women of the Armed Forces and their families. 

We provide emotional and financial support to those in need, to help ensure that no one battles alone. 

But we cannot do it without your support.

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