This year is the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. It was the most devastating and lethal war in history. Rumours of a Japanese surrender had been swirling for a number of days when then US President Harry Truman broke the news at a White House press conference at 7pm on 14 August 1945.  One of the key factors in Japan’s surrender was the dropping of two atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, by the US government.   UK Prime Minister Clement Attlee confirmed the news at midnight, announcing the surrender of Japan and two days of national holiday in celebration.  On 2 September 1945, Japan’s official document of surrender was signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay – bringing an official end to conflict in the region.  The photo shows Sergeant Franklin G Talley assisted by an RAF airman, holding up a copy of the Evening News while seated on traffic lights in Oxford Circus, London. The headline reads “Japan Surrenders”.  Japan’s signing of their official surrender documents on 2 September 1945 marked the end of WW2, calling to a close six years of continuous warfare between the Allied and Axis powers.  Victory in Europe had already been declared in the UK on Tuesday 8 May 1945, following the surrender of Nazi Germany and the death of fascist dictator Adolf Hitler.  The following years saw the formation of the NHS and Welfare in the UK, with no conflict on the scale of WW2 having been seen since.