General News
6 September, 2025
VETERANS' VOICES: Edward Russell Wilmoth
Edward Russell Wilmoth was son of Reginald Wilmoth and Valentine Selma of Dooen Road, Horsham.
Edward was born on January 10 1917 in Horsham and was still living there when he enlisted on November 14 1939 in South Melbourne.
Edward was discharged on January 2 1946 from Headquarters 7 Australian Division.
Two records have his rank then as major, which he had obtained in 1943, although it is also written that on discharge he was a lieutenant colonel.
Edward was recognised for an act of gallantry and devotion to duty at the Battle of
Tobruk on January 21 1941.
It is described in the citation as "courage and daring in adverse circumstances".
During an advance of his company, a counter-attack with tanks was launched by the enemy and Edward's company was halted by heavy machine gun and shell fire from the tanks.
One tank secured a position behind a sand-bagged gun emplacement and effectively screened itself from fire from anti-tank rifles.
Edward worked his way around this emplacement and single-handedly threw grenades under the tank and silenced its fire, enabling the company to continue its advance.
This action had a great encouraging effect on the men who witnessed it and his initiative and leadership contributed in no small measure to the success of his company’s advance.
Edward was also recommended for "exceptional service in the field in South-West Pacific Area" in 1945.
During his service Edward was posted to the Middle East, Greece, New Guinea and the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia).
On September 5 1945 he appeared as a general service officer with Headquarters 7 Australian Division to chair the conference that discussed surrender arrangements with Japanese envoys at Balikpapan, Borneo.
He was also a member of the party that accepted the Japanese surrender from Vice Admiral M. Kamada, Commander 22 Naval Base Force, Imperial Japanese Navy, on board HMAS Burdekin at sea off Balikpapan.
Edward was one of many brave men and women from the Wimmera Mallee who served in World War II.
Many never returned and now lie in Commonwealth war graves in the Pacific, in cemeteries across the theatres of war or in unknown graves.
Lest We Forget.
Victory in the Pacific Day
VP (or Victory in the Pacific) Day, also referred to as VJ (Victory over Japan) Day, is celebrated on August 15.
This date commemorates Japan’s acceptance on August 14 1945 of the Allied demand for unconditional surrender.
For Australians, it meant that the war was finally over.
In August 1945 Australian governments gazetted a public holiday for VP Day and most newspapers reported it as such.
Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been celebrated.
The term 'VJ Day' has also been used for September 2 1945, when Japan’s formal surrender took place aboard USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay.
Coming several months after the surrender by Nazi Germany, Japan’s capitulation in the Pacific brought six years of hostilities to a final and highly anticipated close.
Australian regional memorials have long been at the heart of community commemoration of our servicemen and women.
Each Anzac Day and Remembrance Day local communities gather around town memorials to
commemorate those who left their community to join other service personnel in the defence of freedom.
People knitted their own costumes to mark the historic day.
Thousands of people flocked to the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne to mark VP Day in 1945.
Every town in Australia celebrated the day.
Horsham had its celebration in the town hall.
Victory in the Pacific
After atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Russia also declared war on Japan.
The United States had been conducting air raids on Japan since late 1944.
Japan, faced with the threat of invasion and further nuclear attacks, surrendered on August 15 1945.
"Fellow citizens, the war is over."
With these words, Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley announced the end of World War II.
After almost six long years of fighting across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Pacific, people in Australia and around the world rejoiced.
As news of Japan's surrender spread across the Pacific, Allied troops were able to move into Japanese-occupied areas.
They liberated thousands of men and women from the POW and internment camps across the Pacific.
The Repatriation of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees (RAPWI) organisation worked with all
branches of the Australian armed forces to care for the prisoners.
They established lists with the names and information of survivors so that their anxious families could be informed.
Most of the almost 15,000 POWs were suffering from disease, malnutrition and/or injuries.
They were sent to RAPWI camps to be treated and fed before their journey back to Australia.
As the Australian prisoners were brought home, so too were the men and women who had been serving in the Pacific.
Some personnel continued serving in the Pacific and in the Australian-led British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan.
From early 1946, approximately 16,000 Australians worked with other Allied personnel to
demilitarise Japan and assist in the rebuilding of Japanese society.
For the former prisoners and the service men and women returning home, a lot had changed since their departures.
They returned to family and friends who in some cases had not seen them for more than four years.
The country too had changed while adapting to the demands of the war.
Almost one million Australians had served in uniform during World War II and approximately 40,000 had lost their lives.
The end of the war brought heartache for many families when, after years of waiting for news of the missing, they were told that their loved ones were not coming home.
For so many Australians, too much had happened, too many lives had been lost and too many families were changed for life to ever go back to ‘normal’.
With thanks: Sally Bertram, RSL Military History Library. Contact Sally at sj.bertram@hotmail.com or call 0409 351 940.
