E109 - VJ Day

Bletchley Park

August 2020

Nearly 3 months after VE Day, the war against Japan still continued. Its end would be drawn out over 6 weeks between the Potsdam Declaration in July and the final signing of the surrender on-board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September the 2nd.

During those weeks the world saw the use of a new weapon, the atom bomb and both Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be totally destroyed before World War Two would finally come to an end.

To commemorate VJ Day we present this special It Happened Here episode. Using archive recordings, a recreation of the memoir of Eric Norris and interviews with our Veterans from both our official Oral History Project and 8 years of podcasts, we hope to take you back to those momentous weeks in 1945.

10 of our Veterans will share their memories, both happy and sometimes poignant, of the beginning of the Atomic Age, the end of the war, VJ Day and looking forward to the rest of their lives. Featured in order of appearance are:

Sheila Willson
Dennis Gilley
Dr Michael Loewe
Lady Marion Body
Joyce Bogoni
Joan Smeaton
Dennis Underwood
Betty Webb
Gwendoline Page
Margaret Thomas

We would like to take this opportunity to thank not just the Veterans of Bletchley Park and its Outstations, but all Veterans, for their service.

Very special thanks go to Mr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.

Image: Wrens in London on VJ Day. With grateful thanks to Mrs Joan Smeaton.

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