www.ns.legion.ca 171 Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion continued ... In the wake of atomic bombs being used on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, there was an increasing expectation that the war would soon be over. News that the Japanese government had informed the Allies it was willing to accept the terms of unconditional surrender prompted premature celebrations in London, as seen in this photograph. The negotiations between the Japanese and the Allies about the nature of the surrender had stalled. The Japanese government were deadlocked about accepting the occupation of Japan by Allied forces and the proposal to reduce the status of the Emperor. Personal intervention by Emperor Hirohito confirmed Japan’s decision to accept unconditional surrender. Winning the peace: At 7 O’clock on the evening of 14 August, The President of the United States, Harry Truman, announced the cessation of hostilities. By that time, it was midnight in London, so the recently elected Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, made a radio broadcast ‘Japan has today surrendered. The last of our enemies is laid low.’ Although VE Day, three months previously had witnessed a vast crowd listen rapturously to the speech given by Winston Churchill, he had been defeated at the general election held in July 1945. The Labour Party’s manifesto pledged to nationalise industries such as coal and steel, provide a National Health Service and enact a nationwide house building programme. Crowds dancing in Oxford Circus, London, 10 August 1945 VJ Day and the end of the Second World War August 1945
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