80 years ago today, at midday on the 15th of August 1945, Japanese citizens and soldiers alike gathered around radio sets to hear an address from their Emperor, Hirohito. In this broadcast he instructed his government to agree to the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, which included the immediate unconditional surrender of the Japanese Armed Forces. This order saw almost all Japanese military personnel lay down their arms to the Allied forces and cease combat operations, bringing the fighting to a close.

Lt Gen Messervy accepts the surrender of General Itagaki by taking his sword. Sword surrender ceremonies were purposefully designed to humble the warrior pride of the Japanese military. (IWM SE 6801)

In the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth the 15th of August is therefore marked as Victory over Japan Day, or VJ Day for short.

The news of the surrender came as a particular relief for the tens of thousands of allied Prisoners of War being held in nightmarish conditions by the Japanese who, having not ratified the Geneva Convention, treated POWs with extreme cruelty. It is estimated that a quarter of all allied personnel taken into captivity by the Japanese died, whether through brutal forced labour, executions, malnutrition or disease.

However, the war itself would not officially end until the 2nd of September when the Japanese Government formally surrendered to the allies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. This was exactly 6 years and 1 day since Nazi Germany had invaded Poland, sparking the Second World War.

This had been the most destructive conflict in human history, resulting in over 80 million deaths, both as a direct result of the fighting and through the famines caused as a byproduct. Most of these victims were civilians.

But despite the war being over, the Antecedent Corps of the RLC still had a job to do.

Royal Army Service Corps

As the allies advanced into enemy held territory, the RASC transported food and supplies to the frontlines whilst also transferring Prisoners of War to the rear. This task would continue after the peace as the defeated German and Japanese militaries were gradually broken up and its members processed.

In Asia, Air Despatch units of the RASC would carry out vital aerial resupply missions, dropping food and medicine to the allied personnel trapped in former Japanese POW Camps, some of which were often deep in remote areas of jungle and hundreds of miles from the nearest allied units.

Royal Army Ordnance Corps

The end of the war saw the RAOC dispose of vast quantities of captured and surplus ammunition and weapons, with Germany alone accounting for over 600,000 tons. The RAOC likewise carried out the task of bomb disposal, clearing unexploded ordnance so that the rebuilding process could begin. Much of the disposal process was carried out either in controlled explosions, or by dumping it at sea.

Back home, the RAOC were also responsible for the demobilisation of over 2 million British military personnel returning to ‘civvie street’ through RAOC Demobilisation Centres. From there soldiers leaving military service would report to RAOC Civilian Clothing Depots to be issued their ‘demob’ suits.

Private Bill Krepper of the Pioneer Corps receives his Demobilisation Papers. Bill had previously served in the First World War and reenlisted in 1940. Aged 55 at the Second World War’s end, he was one of the first to be demobilised. (IWM BU 8056).

Pioneer Corps

The Pioneer Corps were particularly busy after the war, helping to repair vital infrastructure destroyed during the fighting. The Pioneers also had the sombre duty of burying the war dead, working to create new cemeteries throughout the world. Beginning in 1940, the Pioneers had recruited foreign refugees into units called Alien Companies, many of whom were German and Austrian Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. Following VE Day many of these native German soldiers were tasked with hunting and interrogating Nazi war criminals ahead of the Nuremburg Trials.

For their service in the war, the Pioneer Corps was granted the prefix ‘Royal’, becoming the Royal Pioneer Corps in 1946.

Army Catering Corps

For the ACC the end of hostilities did not mean the end of service, as they were still needed to feed the British Armed Forces throughout the world. At the same time the ACC had to take into account the various dietary requirements of the enemy prisoners now in British custody, particularly the Japanese whose diet included food stuffs not normally found in British military stores, such as soya beans.

They also provided hot meals to the survivors of the concentration camps. These were carefully rationed to allow their malnourished bodies to slowly readjust to eating full meals again.

As soldiers were gradually demobilised, many who had served as chefs with the army used their wartime experience to become civilian chefs.

 

Alexander Crisp – Curator