'It was a light brighter than the sun. Birds fell from the sky and everything shook'

On Friday, August 15, 2025, it will be 80 years since the Second World War officially ended. Known as VJ Day (Victory over Japan), it came just months after VE Day, which was declared in May 1945.

Part of the Axis powers in World War Two , primarily consisting of Germany, Italy, and Japan, the latter surrendered on August 15, 1945. Marking the end of the war, the Japanese surrender came just days after the US dropped a second atomic bomb on one of its cities.

On August 6, 1945 , the US dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and the second on Nagasaki on August 9. A demonstration of the devastating power of nuclear weapons, both cities were pulverised, resulting in the deaths of between 150,000 and 250,000 people, mostly civilians.

Other casualties included soldiers and Allied