V-Day: Victory over Japan

The most famous photo that celebrates the end of World War II, a sailor kissing a nurse on the streets of New York, both not knowing each other, spontaneously bursting out in joy.

The End of Japanese Occupation

After the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on 15 August 1945. In Singapore, Japanese troops reluctantly complied with the order, although some could not accept the defeat and committed ritual suicide.

Written in English, Chinese, Jawi (Malay) and Tamil, these leaflets were dropped by Allied planes over Singapore. They contained news of the Allied victory and the Japanese surrender in 1945.¹ However, the Japanese were still on the ground as the British did not return until 5 September.

The HMS Sibyl was the first British submarine that arrived at Singapore harbour following the Japanese surrender in August 1945. This British white ensign (flag) was flown on board as Sibyl sailed into the harbour, in a symbolic gesture of the British return after the Japanese defeat.

The Official Surrender

On 12 September 1945, the Japanese formally surrendered to the British in Singapore and a victory parade was held at the Padang. It attracted huge crowds, who cheered the Allied troops in the streets.²

On 12 September, the official surrender ceremony took place at the Municipal Building (now part of the National Gallery Singapore), where General Seishiro Itagaki surrendered unconditionally to the Supreme Allied Commander, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten.

When the British finally returned to Singapore on 5 September, civilians greeted them with great jubilation. However seeds of mistrust had been sowed in the hearts of the population as the British did not protect them during the occupation.

The Singapore War Crimes Tribunal

Three months later, the British launched investigations into war crimes committed by the Japanese in Singapore and Southeast Asia. After hearings, the Singapore War Crimes Tribunal³ found seven Japanese officers guilty of the massacre of local Chinese known as the Sook Ching.⁴ Two were given the death sentence while the others received life sentences. Many people, however, felt that all seven deserved the death penalty. This issue became known as a “blood debt” and continued to be raised into the late 1960s.

Memorial to the Civilian Victims

In February 1963, the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce formed a Remains Disposal Committee to organise the excavation, recovery and reburial of victims of the Sook Ching⁵ in Singapore between February and March 1942. The human remains uncovered by the committee were finally interred under the Memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Japanese Occupation (better known as the Civilian War Memorial) at Beach Road.

Lest we forget!

Footnotes:

1. Museum Information Card, Aug 2025 ↩︎
2. Museum Information Card, Aug 2025 ↩︎
3. The Singapore Trials dealt with war crimes committed during the Second World War in different locations across Asia, including Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These crimes were committed by accused holding diverse ranks and positions. Many trials address war crimes that are well-known today, such as the Sook Ching massacre and deaths along the Burma-Siam Railway. https://www.singaporewarcrimestrials.com ↩︎
4. While there were several separate trials for Japanese soldiers involved in Operation Sook Ching, the main trial was held from 10 March to 2 April 1947 with seven Japanese officers charged with planning and executing the killings. All the officers were found guilty with Lieutenant-General Kawamura Saburo, garrison commander of Singapore Town, and Lieutenant-Colonel Oishi Masayuki, the Kempeitai (Japanese military police) commander, sentenced to death. The other five officers received life sentences. https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/vol-11/issue-4/jan-mar-2016/photographs-singapore-war-crimes-trial/ ↩︎
5. Sook Ching was a mass killing that occurred from 18 February to 4 March 1942 in Singapore after it fell to the Japanese. It was a systematic purge and massacre of ‘anti-Japanese’ elements in Singapore, with the Singaporean Chinese particularly targeted by the Japanese military during the occupation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sook_Ching ↩︎