V-J Day 1945: Celebrating the End of World War II

The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

Unfinished History

When the Japanese surrendered in August, 1945, a raucous celebration began in San Francisco that didn't end for three days. As the booze flowed and the party continued, violence broke out and dozens were injured.


Celebration end of WWII Aug 15 1945 bonfire on Market aad-8959.jpg

Bonfire on Market Street, August 15, 1945.

Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library


Celebration at end of WWII Aug 18 1945 Market and Mason AAF-0184.jpg

Intersection of Market and Mason, August 18, 1945.

Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library

<iframe src="http://archive.org/embed/tmp_38822" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Riotous celebrations in San Francisco and Redwood City, California as soldiers, sailors and civilians celebrate the end of World War II.

Video: [http://archive.org/details/prelinger Prelinger Archives


Celebration end of WWII Crowd overturns newspaper delivery truck Aug 15 1945 AAF-0185.jpg

Crowd overturns newspaper delivery truck, August 15, 1945.

Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library