Japanese surrendered 1945

The Japanese surrendered to General MacArthur on board an American battleship, Missouri, in Tokyo Bay at 9 am on 2 September 1945, officially ending the WWII. Two weeks later, on 12 September 1945 at 11:10 am, another Japanese surrender ceremony was held at the Municipal Building of Singapore (now known as City Hall), which was accepted by Lord Louis Mountbatten. It officially ended the Japanese Occupation of Southeast Asia. 

Surrender ceremony on board the American battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay

The Japanese representatives were made up of Foreign Minister Mr Shigemitsu, General Umezu of the Imperial General Headquarters, and nine others; three each from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Navy and the Army. The Instrument of Surrender were signed by Mr Shigemitsu as "by command of and on behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Government of Japan" and General Umezu who signed as "'by command of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters". They had initially made a request that they be allowed to sign as "by command of and on behalf of the Emperor of Japan" with accordance to the Japanese constitution but this request was denied.

The Allies were represented by General MacArthur who signed on behalf of the Allied Powers, Admiral Nimitz for the United States, Admiral Fraser for Great Britain, General Blamey for Australia, Colonel L. M. Cosgrove for Canada, Air Vice-Marshall L. M. Isitt for New Zealand, General Hsu Yung-chang for China, General P. Leclerc for France, Admiral C. E. L. Helfrich for the Netherlands and Lieut-General K. N. Derevyanko for Russia.

General MacArthur was assigned the duty of administering the occupation of Japan, which lasted till 1952. During this occupation, many high-ranking Japanese officials were tried and were either executed or given long-serving sentences.

Surrender ceremony at Municipal Building of Singapore (now known as City Hall)

On 12 September 1945, Lord Louis Mountbatten, accompanied by the Deputy Supreme Commander Wheeler, was driven to the ceremony by a released prisoner of war. As the car drove by the streets, sailors and marines from the East Indies Fleet who had lined up the streets greeted them. At the Municipal Building, Mountbatten was received by his Commanders-in Chief and all high-ranking Allied Officers in Singapore. Also gathered in front of the Municipal Building were four guards of honour, from the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, Australian paratroopers, and the Indian army. Lord Mountbatten led an inspection of the officers before proceeding to the chamber where the ceremony was to be held. During the inspection, a fleet of band was playing the song 'Rule Britannia!'concurrently with the firing of seventeen-gun salute by the Royal Artillery.

The Instrument of Surrender was signed by General S. Itagaki, who signed on behalf of Aisarchi Terauchi, Field Marshall Count, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Japanese Forces, Southern Region. Terauchi was not able to attend the surrender ceremony as he had fallen ill due to a stroke. He surrendered personally to Mountbatten on 30 September 1945 in Saigon. He also surrendered his two swords; a short sword forged in the 16th century and a long sword forged in the 13th century. Mountbatten later presented the short sword to King George VI.

The Japanese signed a total of 11copies of the Instrument of Surrender; one each for the British, American, Chinese, French, Dutch, Australian, Indian and the Japanese governments; and one each for King George VI, the Supreme Commander and the South East Asia Command's records.

The ceremony was also witnessed by 400 spectators made up commanders and officers from the navy, army and air force, as well as senior officers from the Supreme Headquarters, leaders of the Malayan communities, Sultan of Johore, Sir Ibrahim, and released prisoners of war, whom were all seated behind the Allied representatives. In the chamber, flags of Allied forces were hung and at the bases of it's pillars stood one officer representing the different fighting forces; the Gurkhas, Sikhs, Australians, British airmen, Dutch, Americans, French (from the "Richelieu") and the 5th Indian Division.

The surrender ceremony finally ended with the hoisting of the Union Jack flag and the playing of the national anthems of all the Allied nations. This was the same flag used by General Percival when he surrendered to the Japanese and had been kept concealed in the Changi prison during the occupation.

http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_123_2005-02-03.html Date accessed: 16/2/13