As people danced in the streets to celebrate the end of World War II 18-year-old Ted Doss was instead sent to Japan.
"I went over on [HMAS] Kanimbla and went to a place called Kure, then they sent me up to Bipond, which was a British oil and petrol depot, which was about 12 kilometres from Hiroshima," he said.
"No one was supposed to go into Hiroshima for six months and we were there six weeks later."
It has been 75 years since World War II ended, with August 15 marking Victory in the Pacific Day and the surrender of Japan to the Allied Forces.
But for those left in Hiroshima there was nothing to celebrate.
It has been estimated that up to 166,000 died immediately after the blast and thousands more lost their lives from the effects of radiation exposure.
"By geez that bomb made a mess; you had to see it to believe it," Mr Doss said.
He said he was sent home from Japan after suffering radiation burns, something that has continued to haunt him.
"I don't know how I got it," he said.
"It breaks out every now and again, sort of heals up, and breaks out again."
'They were starving'
Mr Doss said, while he was able to come home, there was no relief for the Hiroshima locals who faced chaotic conditions and had limited food supplies.
"There wasn't much food … they were starving," he said.
Mr Doss said it was the bomb's impact on small children that has always stayed with him.
"We had three mess huts. We used to have to come out and put our scraps in these drums," he said.
"Little kids would be there and all you'd see was their legs sticking out of these drums.
"They'd be scrapping the stuff out of the drums because they had nothing to eat. It was unreal."
When asked what has the world has learnt from the war Mr Doss had a blunt reply: "Not bloody much, they're still bickering and fighting."
