To mark the 80^th anniversary of VJ Day, Dr Daniel Cowling, Senior Historian at the National Army Museum in London, explores the ‘ragged end’ of World War II and its aftermath in the Asia-Pacific region.

VJ Day 80

Britain’s war against Japan (1941-45) was once the ‘forgotten’ front of the Second World War. Established narratives of the conflict were primarily focused on the war in Europe and often overlooked the British Army’s campaign against Japanese forces in Burma (now Myanmar). In recent years, however, scholars have stressed the truly global character of the Second World War – and highlighted the momentous significance of the conflict in Burma.

As we mark the 80^th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day, this reassessment is now more vital than ever. In September 2025, the National Army Museum will open a new exhibition, Beyond Burma: Forgotten Armies. It shines a light on the remarkable multinational army that fought in some of the toughest conditions of the Second World War.

The exhibition also reflects upon the aftermath of victory, and on the campaign’s lasting impact upon the people of India, Burma and beyond. The summer of 1945 was, we learn, a time of ongoing fighting, uncertainty, and political upheaval across much of Asia. The National Army Museum’s expansive collection of objects, photographs, diaries, and memoirs brings to life this ‘ragged end’ of the Second World War. This conflict, in other words, did not neatly come to an end with news of Japan’s surrender on 15 August 1945 – and the history of VJ Day is altogether more complex than it may seem.

The long road to victory

From December 1941 until August 1945, British, Commonwealth, and Empire troops were engaged in a fierce conflict against the forces of the Japanese Empire. Following early defeats in Singapore, Burma, and Malaya (now Malaysia), the fightback began in 1943. The Fourteenth Army’s spirited rearguard at Imphal and Kohima in north-east India preceded an offensive that would eventually recapture Burma in 1945.

The British and Indian counterattack came in tandem with American, Australian, and Chinese offensives against Japan. After US forces conquered the islands of Iwo Jima (February-March 1945) and Okinawa (April-June 1945), the Allies prepared for a full-scale Allied invasion of the Japanese mainland.

On 6 August 1945, an American atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima in Japan brought mass death and destruction. Three days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. These two strikes combined killed more than 150,000 people. On 9 August, the Soviet Union invaded Japanese-occupied parts of north-east China.

In the face of such unprecedented destruction, and contemplating certain defeat, the Japanese government communicated its intention to surrender on 10 August. This news quickly inspired celebrations around the world, including in London, where civilians and soldiers danced in a conga line on Regent Street.

VJ Day

The Japanese government made the first formal steps towards unconditional surrender on 14 August 1945. At midnight, Prime Minister Clement Attlee delivered a radio broadcast informing the British public that “Japan has today surrendered. The last of our enemies is laid low.” The late hour of his address meant that many people first became aware of Japan’s defeat when reading the following morning’s headlines.

In Britain, and across the Commonwealth and Empire, 15 August was declared Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day), and a two-day public holiday was announced. Across the world people greeted the news with a mix of celebration and relief. Many British troops in Europe were overjoyed at the realisation that they would not be redeployed to Asia, while others reflected upon the huge sacrifices of the preceding six years.

Back in London, VJ Day coincided with the State Opening of Parliament and huge crowds lined the route to cheer King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on their way to Westminster. A hastily amended King’s Speech began with a note of gratitude: “The surrender of Japan has brought to an end six years of warfare which have caused untold loss and misery to the world […] My Armed Forces from every part of my Commonwealth and Empire have fought with steady courage and endurance. To them as well as to all others who have borne their share in bringing about this great victory and to all our Allies our gratitude is due.”

For the thousands of British prisoners of war still detained in Japanese camps, however, any announcement of Japan’s defeat was often significantly delayed – and official confirmation of the Allied victory was often hard to obtain: three days after VJ Day, Corporal Abraham Gumburd of the Middlesex Regiment wrote in his diary that ‘rumours in camp are rife, but all indications positively point to the War being over’.

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender, an official document outlining Japan’s unconditional surrender and the cessation of hostilities, was formally signed aboard the USSMissouri on 2 September (the United States celebrates VJ Day on this date, while China celebrates the day after.) In the weeks that followed, Allied forces instigated an American-led military occupation of Japan, which soon included the deployment of Commonwealth soldiers. 

Enduring conflict

During the Second World War, Japanese forces had conquered numerous territories throughout East and Southeast Asia. In August 1945, the rapid collapse of the Japanese Empire created a power vacuum as the future of this region hung in the balance.

After VJ Day, British and Indian Army soldiers were tasked with re-establishing control over Britain’s former colonial possessions, including Hong Kong and Singapore. In some cases, national independence movements contested the restoration of imperial rule. In Malaya, pro-independence forces resisted the return of Britain as a colonial power – eventually resulting in the open warfare of the Malayan Emergency (1948-60). In Burma, a British governor was returned to power in October 1945 and soon set about undertaking urgent reconstruction efforts. Yet an increasingly powerful Burmese independence movement secured the end of British rule in January 1948.

Following Japan’s defeat, British and Indian Army forces also became entangled in colonial wars in French Indochina (now Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) and the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). In August 1945, independence movements had seized their chance to overthrow French and Dutch colonial rule, respectively. With France and the Netherlands unable to muster military forces adequate to reassert their own power, British and Indian troops were deployed to support their European allies. In addition, thousands of Japanese prisoners of war were temporarily released and re-armed to support the European powers. Over several months, these soldiers fought in fierce street battles against local independence fighters.

Southeast Asia also emerged as an important frontline in the early Cold War. In Malaya, French Indochina, and the Dutch East Indies, communists spearheaded national independence movements. In the case of Korea, a territory occupied by Japan for several decades prior to 1945, the Soviet Union and the United States shared responsibility for a transitional military government in the north and south, respectively. By 1948, as the Cold War intensified, two separate nations were formed – and two years later the outbreak of the Korean War (1950-53) would see the deployment of British Army troops in defence of South Korea against Soviet-backed North Korea.

War without end?

In the wake of Japan’s defeat, this succession of complex and multifaceted conflicts reshaped the history of East and Southeast Asia. As we’ve seen, British, Commonwealth, and Empire troops played an active role in many of these post-VJ Day wars.

For those involved - military or civilian - there was little indication that Japan’s defeat marked a definitive end to the war. Today, many historians challenge the idea that August 1945 stands as a conclusive end point of the Second World War. Instead, there is growing recognition of the global scale and prolonged aftermath of the conflict – including the ‘forgotten wars’ involving British, Commonwealth, and Empire troops in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Nevertheless, VJ Day remains a significant part of Britain’s annual remembrance commemorations – a time to reflect upon the extraordinary sacrifices that secured victory in 1945 and to acknowledge a once-forgotten chapter of the Second World War.

VJ Day 80

About the author

Dr Daniel Cowling is a Senior Historian at the National Army Museum in London. Daniel specialises in the history of postwar Europe and first book, Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans: The British Occupation of Germany, 1945-49, was published by Head of Zeus in 2023.

The National Army Museum’s Beyond Burma: Forgotten Armies exhibition will run from 16 September 2025 – 13 April 2026. For more information and to plan your free visit, visit the National Army Museum website.

See also

VJ Day and The Gazette - 80th anniversary

From records to reality: Indian soldiers in WWII

Images

1. National Army Museum, Indian and Gurkha soldiers inspect captured Japanese ordnance during the Imphal-Kohima battle, 1944.
2. National Army Museum, An M3 medium General Lee tank named 'Shrewsbury' of the 25th Dragoons, February 1944.
3. National Army Museum, The formal surrender by Japanese General Itagaki Seishiro of his sword, Kuala Lumpur, 1946.
4. National Army Museum, 'British Patrols in Burma, Monsoon Conditions, East of Waw', Burma, July, 1945.

Publication date

28 July 2025

Any opinion expressed in this article is that of the author and the author alone, and does not necessarily represent that of The Gazette.