The ruins of Hiroshima, 1945

Photograph, World War Two, Far East (1941-1945), 1945.

Japan surrendered after two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945. These attacks killed about 130,000 people, but the Allies believed they were necessary to achieve victory and avoid many more deaths during a bloody invasion of Japan.

From a collection of 563 loose photographs from the Burma Memorial Collection of Major Jim Allan.