Starved and haggard after nearly four years of captivity, LTG Jonathan M. Wainwright, IV and Lt-Gen Arthur E. Percival, commanders at the fall of the Philippines and Singapore, stand behind GA Douglas MacArthur as he signs the Japanese Instrument of Surrender.
INSTRUMENT OF SURRENDER
We, acting by command of and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, hereby accept the provisions set forth in the declaration issued by the heads of the Governments of the United States, China, and Great Britain on 26 July 1945 at Potsdam, and subsequently adhered to by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which four powers are hereafter referred to as the Allied Powers.
We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters and of all Japanese armed forces and all armed forces under the Japanese control wherever situated.
We hereby command all Japanese forces wherever situated and the Japanese people to cease hostilites forthwith, to preserve and save from damage all ships, aircraft, and military and civil property and to comply with all requirements which my be imposed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by agencies of the Japanese Government at his direction.
We hereby command the Japanese Imperial Headquarters to issue at once orders to the Commanders of all Japanese forces and all forces under Japanese control wherever situated to surrender unconditionally themselves and all forces under their control.
We hereby command all civil, military and naval officials to obey and enforce all proclamations, and orders and directives deemed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers to be proper to effectuate this surrender and issued by him or under his authority and we direct all such officials to remain at their posts and to continue to perform their non-combatant duties unless specifically relieved by him or under his authority.
We hereby undertake for the Emperor, the Japanese Government and their successors to carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration in good faith, and to issue whatever orders and take whatever actions may be required by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by any other designated representative of the Allied Powers for the purpose of giving effect to that Declaration.
We hereby command the Japanese Imperial Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters at once to liberate all allied prisoners of war and civilian internees now under Japanese control and to provide for their protection, care, maintenance and immediate transportation to places as directed.
The authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers who will take such steps as he deems proper to effectuate these terms of surrender.
Signed at Tokyo Bay, Japan at 0904 I on the Second day of September, 1945
/s/
Mamoru Shigemitsu
[Gaimu Daijin (Minister of Foreign Affairs) Mamoru Shigemitsu]
By Command and in behalf of the Emperor
of Japan and the Japanese Government
/s/
Yoshijirō Umezu
[Rikugun Taishō Yoshijirō Umezu, IJA, CINC Sanbō Honbu (Defense Headquarters)]
By Command and in behalf of the Japanese
Imperial General Headquarters
Accepted at TOKYO BAY, JAPAN at 0903 on the SECOND day of SEPTEMBER, 1945, for the United States, Republic of China, United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and in the interests of the other United Nations at war with Japan.
/s/
Douglas MacArthur
[GA Douglas MacArthur, USA, CINC United States Army Forces in the Pacific]
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers
/s/
C. W. Nimitz
[FADM Chester W. Nimitz, USN, CINC Pacific Ocean Areas]
United States Representative
/s/
Xú Yǒngchāng
[Shang Jiang Xú Yǒngchāng, ROCA, CINC Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guófángbù (Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China)]
Republic of China Representative
/s/
Bruce Fraser
[Adm Sir Bruce A. Fraser, RN, CO British Pacific Fleet]
United Kingdom Representative
/s/
Генерал-лейтенант K. Derevyanko
[Generál-Lejtenánt Kuzma N. Derevyanko, SA, CS Thirty-Fifth Red-Banner Army]
Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics Representative
/s/
T. A. Blamey
[Gen Sir Thomas A. Blamey, AA, CINC Allied Land Forces, Southwest Pacific Area]
Commonwealth of Australia
Representative
/s/
L. Moore Cosgrave
[Col Lawrence V. Moore Cosgrave, CA, Canadian Military Liaison, Southwest Pacific Area]
Dominion of Canada Representative
/s/
Leclerc
[Général de Corps d’Armée Philippe F. M. Leclerc de Hauteclocque, AT, CG Corps Expéditionnaire Français en Extrême-Orient (French Far East Expeditionary Corps)]
Provisional Government of the French
Republic Representative
/s/
C. E. L. Helfrich
[Luitenant-Admiraal Conrad E. L. Helfrich, KM, CINC Koninklijke Marine (Royal Navy)]
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Representative
/s/
Leonard M. Isitt
[AVM Leonard Monk Isitt, RNZAF, CINC Royal New Zealand Air Force]
Dominion of New Zealand Representative