VP, which stands for victory in the Pacific commemorates the surrender of Japanese forces and the subsequent end of the second world war in 1945. In Western Australia, 20 of WA's World War Two veterans attended the commemorative service on August 15.
00:00Far from the battlefield and eight decades on, a ceremony to honour those who served.
00:11At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.
00:18First-hand accounts from war read by current serving members like this diary entry from Brigadier Arthur Varley's time as a prisoner of the Japanese along the Thai-Burma railway.
00:27I was forced to stand by and watch these men shot by a guard of 16. Death was instantaneous in all cases.
00:35Ex-servicemembers with vivid memories of the day the war ended.
00:39We were in bed and somebody on the parade ground yelled out, the war's over and the mess is open. So we went down and had a little celebration.
00:48Mr Marshall was stationed in England training bomber pilots at the time. Now 100, he remembers feeling elated at being able to return.
00:56home to his family, his proud son with him for the commemorations.
01:01I think it's our last opportunity to remember what they did in person and to thank them.
01:05More than 60,000 West Australians served in World War II and there are only about 100 veterans left in the state, keeping the memories of their fallen friends alive.
01:14The Returned Services League hoping for a bigger crowd in the future saying it's essential younger generations know the sacrifices that were made.
01:22We have a stable democracy and people are free to say what they think. We ignore that at our own peril and the service that that generation gave is quite extraordinary.
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