Victory in the Pacific, Vietnam Veterans’ Day to be commemorated

THE 81st anniversary of the end of world war two and 51 years since the Vietnam War ceased will be commemorated at local services.

Victory in the Pacific Day and Vietnam Veterans’ Day will be commemorated at services in Narrabri and Gunnedah.

Narrabri RSL Sub-branch will commemorate both days with a memorial service at 11am on Saturday 15 August.

The service will take place at the Narrabri War Memorial, Maitland Street, on Victory in the Pacific Day.

VP Day, or sometimes referred to as Victory over Japan Day, marks when Japan announced its surrender and effectively brought world war two to a close.

Nearly one million Australians served in that war.

During the war, more than 39,000 Australians were killed.

Gunnedah will hold its Vietnam Veterans’ Day commemoration on Tuesday 18 August.

Gunnedah Water Tower Museum will serve as a poignant backdrop to a Vietnam Veterans’ Day commemoration in Gunnedah on Tuesday 18 August.

The 11am service will be held at the Gunnedah Water Tower Museum.

The museum’s stunning mural, which honours Vietnam War veterans and the Battle of Long Tan, will serve as a poignant backdrop to the service.

Vietnam Veterans’ Day is commemorated annually in Australia on 18 August and marks the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan in 1966.

The day honours the almost 60,000 Australians who served during the Vietnam War and remembers the hundreds of Australians who died.

The Battle of Long Tan saw 108 Australian soldiers face between 1,500 and 2,500 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops in a rubber plantation during a torrential downpour.

Eighteen Australians were killed and another 24 were wounded before the battle ended.