End-of-war celebrations, Sydney, 1945

TALBOT DUCKMANTON

Hello, everyone. This is Talbot Duckmanton speaking to you from Martin Place, Sydney.

Loud, excited chatter in the background

TALBOT DUCKMANTON

And I'm afraid that today it's not the old Martin Place that you know so well. There's no bus outside the Airways office here. And there's no constable at duty on Pitt Street directing the traffic. There are no office boys posting mail at the letterboxes. Instead, there are thousands and thousands of people. Honestly, I've never seen so many people in Martin Place before. They're packed tight from above Castlereagh Street, all the way down across Pitt Street, past the cenotaph and way down here to the George Street end of Martin Place, where we have the mobile studio parked. There are men, women and girls — lovely girls, too — hundreds and hundreds of them. They've got paper hats on their heads, waving streamers, flags, Union Jacks, the Stars and Stripes. They've got whistles, those gas-alarm rattlers. And they're just having one whale of a time. It's about an hour since the official news came through, and of course most of these young people were on their way to the offices, and so they've just stayed in town. I heard somebody down below saying they stayed in just for the fun of it, and there's certainly plenty of fun here in this heart of Sydney this morning. Over on my right in one of the buildings at the back, somebody has hung out a big dummy of Adolf Hitler, with a great swastika on the front of it. And, to the cheers of the crowd, he was lowered down from the top of the building, and duly hung. As I'm talking to you, there are dozens of these young girls down below just… booing me, as a matter of fact, and yelling and shouting. Over on my right, just below the cenotaph, there's an old chappy with white streamed around his neck, no coat on, his hat's on the back of his head and… Oh, hello. Somebody's nearly knocked his glasses off. And he's giving an exhibition of the highland fling. He's got about 30 or 40 people in a large circle around him — all girls they are, too — and just at the moment he's the centre of proceedings. A little farther down, about 40 — it must be 40 or more — young people.

There's some British sailors and some of our soldiers, girls and marines. And they're doing the hokey-pokey. They're putting their — let me see — left foot in. Ah, there we go. Turn it all around. The trams are still running in Pitt Street, very slowly, and they're crowded. People on the footboards either side. All the compartments are full. (Laughs) Remember this dummy of Hitler that I was telling you about? Well, they've just hoisted it back to the top of the building, and a chappy in overalls, to the crowd's delight, is kicking Hitler in that certain portion of the anatomy where most people are kicked. And now he's hitting him on the chin, knocking his hat off. And the people down below are craning up and watching and laughing fit to kill themselves. This is a very happy crowd. They are mad with excitement.

Aircraft overhead

TALBOT DUCKMANTON

Hello? Can you hear that aircraft? It's a Mosquito. A Mosquito doing some fast flying above the General Post Office in Sydney. Yes, Sydney is gay today, but I must mention that, with all this gaiety here in Martin Place, there is a little bit of sadness too. You only have to look at the cenotaph to realise that. The freshly laid flowers upon it and the number of people who have taken off their hats and reverently gone and paid homage at the cenotaph indicates to us that Sydney, despite all this gaiety and rejoicing at the news, the official news of the Japanese surrender, has not forgotten that our men and our allies too have paid a high price so that we may rejoice in this way.

Aircraft overhead

TALBOT DUCKMANTON

There's that Mosquito again. He's getting lower, each time doing steep turns around the GPO. Motor car horns are blowing. The lorries — military lorries particularly — are just crammed with civilians as well as service personnel. This, then, is Martin Place on Victory Day.