Guyra veteran remembers the famous surrender in World War II

Mr Vickress, who joined the Navy in 1943, reminisced about the famous moment while at a Remembrance Day service in Guyra.

“We were only about half a mile away from the Missouri, where the surrender was signed, so we could see it through our binoculars,” Mr Vickress said.

“The day after we got a signal to say the first Australian prisoners of war were going home on an aircraft carrier and they came alongside us and we sang Waltzing Matilda.

“There were tears on both decks I think … it was the first time they’d seen an Australian flag in three years.”

Mr Vickress is now an author and treasurer of the Guyra RSL Sub Branch.