Thursday 15^th August 2024 – Time: TBC

BDRSL Memorial Garden

73-75 Havilah Road, Bendigo

VP Day – Australian War Memorial

VP (Victory in the Pacific) Day, also referred to as VJ (Victory over Japan) is commemorated on the 15^th August each year

This date commemorates Japan’s acceptance of the Allied demand for unconditional surrender 14 August 1945. For Australians, it meant that the Second World War was finally over. The following day, 15 August, is usually referred to as VP Day.

In August 1945 Australian governments gazetted a public holiday as VP Day and most newspapers reported it as such. However, the governments of Britain, the United States and New Zealand preferred VJ Day. It is not true, as some have claimed, that the day was originally called VJ and that the name was surreptitiously changed later.