Ben Chifley, Australia’s voice of history

When news broke that Japan had officially surrendered and the war had been won, millions of Australians crowded around radios to hear Ben Chifley announce it.

Ben Chifley, 1949 Chifley Portrait

When the news finally came at 9am on August 15, 1945 that Japan had officially surrendered and the war had been won, millions of Australians crowded around their radios to listen to the reports from abroad.

Ben Chifley made his way to the ABC studios in Canberra for a nationwide broadcast. He had been at the Kurrajong Hotel, where he preferred to stay rather than at The Lodge, and had gone to bed early the night before with a bad cold. He was to make one of the most momentous speeches of any prime minister.

“Fellow citizens, the war is over,” Chifley said in his gravelly voice over the crackling

Ben Chifley.

airwaves at 9.30am 75 years ago today. “The Japanese government has accepted the terms of surrender imposed by the Allied nations and hostilities will now cease … At this moment, let us offer thanks to God Let us remember those whose lives were given that we may enjoy this glorious moment and may look forward to a peace which they have won for us. Let us remember those whose thoughts with proud sorrow turn towards gallant loved ones who will not come back.”

He praised the “gallantry, sacrifice and devotion to duty” of Australia’s “fighting men”. He thanked the men and women who worked on the home front. He acknowledged Allied war leaders Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin and Chiang Kai-shek. But happiness was “tinged with sorrow” that two men who had given their all had died before victory could be won: Franklin Roosevelt and John Curtin.

“And now our men and women will come home,” Chifley said. “Australians stopped the Japanese in their drive south, just as they helped start the first march towards ultimate victory in North Africa. Australians fought in the battles of the air everywhere and Australian seamen covered every ocean. They are coming home to a peace which has to be won.”

These were stirring and poignant words that tugged the emotions of Australians.

Chifley had waited for days for the word “Neon” to be communicated by Morse code that signalled the Japanese had officially surrendered. It came at 8.44am from London. Chifley was informed at 8.50am. At 8.55am every radio station in Australia hooked up to 2CY in Canberra. Chifley would speak after British prime minister Clement Attlee.

The speech was drafted by Chifley’s press secretary, Don Rodgers, in advance and was only a few minutes long. After the broadcast, Chifley went to Parliament House, where he was met by ministerial and parliamentary staff who cheered and clapped on his arrival. They queued to shake his hand and get his autograph.

After six years it had fallen to Chifley to announce the end of the war. He was the fifth prime minister during wartime. He had been in office for just a month. After Curtin’s death, he had not wanted to stand for the Labor leadership and consequently become prime minister. He was persuaded to do so by former PM Jim Scullin and easily defeated three others in a caucus ballot.

Chifley was not a polished speaker like Robert Menzies and lacked the passion of Curtin. His style had been honed outdoors speaking from flatbed trucks, on street corners and hotel balconies. It had taken its toll on his voice. But his plain-speaking style was central to his political appeal.

Chifley was probably Australia’s most loved prime minister. He was down-to-earth and relatable. He was a simple man who read cheap westerns for entertainment and often had toast and tea for dinner. He didn’t go to banquets or balls because he didn’t own a tuxedo.

Australians were jubilant when the Japanese surrender was confirmed. In cities and towns, church bells rang, fire station sirens sounded, bands played, and people danced and sang. This revelry was punctuated by Chifley’s speech, heard in loungerooms, on car radios and amplified through loudspeakers into city streets.

Chifley shared their joy. But he was thinking about the future. The war had been won but now the peace had to be won.