On 10 October 1945, the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reach an agreement at Chongqing to pursue national unity.
With the tenuous Second United Front between the KMT and CCP already strained by military skirmishes, Japan`s surrender resulted in hostilities breaking out across China.
The KMT, backed by the U.S., controls most of the urban areas and infrastructure. The CCP, with Soviet support, has strengthened its power base in rural areas, particularly in northern China. Seeking to avoid another major conflict, the U.S. has been putting pressure on KMT leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek to invite CCP Chairman Mao Zedong to negotiations.
On 28 August, Mao arrived in Chongqing to begin negotiations. He had initially been reluctant to engage in talks but was persuaded by pressure from the Soviet Union. Patrick J. Hurley, U.S. ambassador to China, has been mediating the talks.
Intense discussions, military manoeuvring behind the scenes, and an air of distrust have marked the talks. As the negotiations were ongoing, Mao ordered CCP troops to launch a massive offensive against KMT-held areas in Shandong and Central China on 10 September. Their success has put Mao into an advantageous negotiating position. Mao seemingly conceded to reduce CCP forces to only 20 divisions but has simultaneously been making plans to increase the size of those divisions significantly.
Today, after 43 days of negotiations, the two sides reach an agreement:
1. The CCP will recognize the KMT as the legitimate ruling party of China
2. All political parties in China will be legalized and given equal political rights
3. Both parties accept a joint peaceful state building of China
4. A political consultative conference will be formed to discuss plans for state building with guaranteed representation of all political parties
5. CCP and KMT secret services to be abolished
6. A general election will be held to determine the next ruling party
7. Abolition of the Dang Guo one-party system
The question is whether the two sides will honour this agreement and refrain from military action.
Picture: Hurley, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong during the negotiations
Source: AP
On 9 October 1945, the jury of the High Court of Justice in Paris sentences former French Prime Minister Pierre Laval to death by firing squad only five days after the start of his trial.
The first day of the trial, which we partially covered in our 4 October post, began with Laval`s assigned defence lawyers, Jaques Baraduc, Albert Naud and Yves-Frédéric Jaffré, refusing to continue the defence on the grounds that they were not given sufficient time to prepare the case.
Laval took to representing himself in court, quickly coming to dominate the court proceedings, as heated exchanges between him, Judge Mongibeaux and the jury erupted multiple times.
When Laval was questioned about his statements early in the war that Britain would be defeated, he replied: ˝At that time, it seemed inevitable.˝
As the day went on, Laval repeatedly requested that the trial be postponed for him to better prepare his defence, which resulted in a furious exchange between him and Judge Mongibeaux. Finally, the judge threatened Laval with removal from court, which only attracted even more shouting from the latter.
Judge Mongibeaux ordered the police to remove Laval from court, to which Laval replied: ˝I will go out by myself.˝
The trial has proceeded since without Laval present.
Today, Judge Mongibeaux asks the jury to make a verdict on Laval`s sentence.
After an hour, the jurors return to the courtroom and announce that the sentence is: loss of all civil rights, confiscation of wealth and assets, and finally, death by firing squad.
Upon learning of the sentence, Laval initially asks to sign a petition for mercy. Later in the day, however, he says: ˝I don`t want mercy, I want justice. I want to be given a fair hearing by an unprejudiced jury who won`t abuse me in court and a guarantee that I will be free to defend myself.˝
His lawyers will appeal directly to the Provisional Government of the French Republic. Still, it seems for the time that Laval`s only hope for avoiding the firing squad is General Charles de Gaulle commuting his sentence as he did this August for former Marshal Philippe Pétain.
Picture: Laval passionately pleading his case
Source: Keystone-France
On 8 October 1945, British authorities transfer Rudolf Hess to Landsberg Prison in Germany to await trial before the International Military Tribunal (IMT).
Following his solo flight to Scotland in an attempt to convince the British to exit the war in 1941, Hess was held at Buchanan Castle in Scotland before being transferred to the Tower of London for a short period. In mid-1941, he was moved to Mytchett Place, a fortified mansion in Surrey designated Camp Z.
Hess spent 13 months at Mytchett Place, during which time British intelligence officials, particularly Major Frank Foley, conducted numerous abortive debriefings. Hess’s mental state was deteriorating, marked by paranoia and hypochondria, and he often claimed that his food was being poisoned. He spoke of bizarre conspiracy theories, including the existence of a "secret force" controlling both British and Nazi leaders.
On 16 June 1942, he rushed past his guards and threw himself down a staircase in a suicide attempt. The fall resulted in a broken femur, requiring immobilization and several months of recovery. Around this time, Hess began claiming amnesia.
Hess was transferred to Maindiff Court Hospital in Wales on 26 June 1942. Dr John Rawlings Rees took over his care and observed that while Hess was not insane, his behaviour was increasingly erratic.
This February, he attempted suicide again by stabbing himself with a bread knife. Then he refused food for a week, only relenting when he was threatened with being force-fed.
Nevertheless, Hess was identified by the IMT as one of 24 major German war criminals, which we covered in our 29 August post. This meant arrangements have been made for his transfer to Landsberg.
Today, Hess arrives at Landsberg Prison after a flight from Britain.
Hess refuses to give up his possessions, including food samples he claims had been poisoned by the British. U.S. Army Colonel Burton C. Andrus, the prison commandant, gives him no special treatment and confiscates all forbidden possessions.
He will now await trial before the IMT.
Picture: Hess reading the book Jugend by Ernst Claes in Landsberg Prison, November 1945
Source: U.S. National Archives
On 7 October 1945, HMS Corfu returns home the first 1,500 British POWs released from Japanese POW camps.
Originally a Royal Mail Ship (RMS), Corfu was launched in 1931 to serve the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company`s (P&O) India and Far East Mail Service.
She was hastily converted into an armed merchant ship through the addition of eight 6-inch guns in September 1939. However, this initial part of her career was cut short after a collision with the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes left Corfu in such bad shape that the ship had to be beached on 19 August for repairs to her bow.
Nevertheless, she resumed her wartime service in early 1941 as a convoy escort in the Indian Ocean.
On 17 October 1942, she arrived at Southampton for six months of re-armament, which included nine new 6-inch guns and other refinements.
On 17 February last year, Corfu was returned to P&O and has since been serving as a troop transport ship.
In recent weeks, though, Corfu has set sail on perhaps her most important mission.
The Japanese have taken some 190,000 British and Commonwealth troops prisoner throughout the war, and these men have endured hellish conditions.
Changi POW camp in Singapore, one of seven main camps on the island, had been liberated recently, and thousands have been patiently awaiting their return to their country and normality.
Corfu picked up last week in Singapore 1,500 former POWs; some recovered enough to walk, others carried aboard on stretchers.
After travelling in far-from-luxury conditions, with the ship originally designed to carry only 391 passengers, the POWs finally returne home today as the ship docks in Southhampton harbour.
Men from 50 regiments, naval personnel, and one member of the RAF step ashore. As they pass through the harbour, they are given a welcome home message from the King and Queen, a bar of chocolate, 20 cigarettes, and a quantity of fruit as crowds cheer to celebrate their return.
While many more will return over the coming months, some 30,000 Allied POWs who have perished during their imprisonment by the Japanese will not.
Picture: HMS Corfu showing her camouflage scheme at Greenock, 1943
Source: IWM A 16365
On 6 October 1945, Leonardo Conti, former Reich Health Leader, commits suicide at Nuremberg Prison.
Born in Switzerland in 1900 to an Italian father and a German mother, Conti became a staunch advocate of Nazi ideology early in his career. Conti joined the Nazi Party in 1927 and quickly rose through the ranks. He passed his state medical examinations in November 1923 and joined the Sturmabteilung (SA) in Erlangen that year, becoming their first physician in Berlin.
After being expelled from the SA over an argument with Walter Stennes, then leader of SA-Gruppe Ost, Conti joined the SS on 16 November 1930 (member number 3982) and became the senior doctor for SS-Gruppe Ost. His strong belief in eugenics and racial purity made him a perfect candidate for leadership roles within the Nazi regime`s medical and health structures, which led to him receiving further appointments, including handling all medical arrangements for the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
On 20 April 1939, Conti was appointed Reich Health Leader (Reichsgesundheitsführer) by Heinrich Himmler. In this capacity, he was responsible for overseeing Germany`s public health system and aligning it with Nazi racial and ideological goals.
Under his leadership, local health offices were further expanded to allow for genetic control and selection of the population in order to remove "weak" elements for the improvement of the German race. Toward this goal, Conti worked with Dr Karl Brandt on formulating the T4 programme - the Nazi state-sanctioned euthanasia campaign targeting individuals with mental and physical disabilities which led to the murder of over 70,000 people by 1941, before it was `officially` halted due to public outcry. However, as we`ve covered on this page several times, the killings continued covertly throughout the war, resulting in the deaths of around 300,000 people.
British troops arrested Conti, along with other remnants of the SS and Nazi leadership, in Flensburg on 19 May this year.
Today, with his indictment for crimes against humanity almost certain, he hangs himself using his bedsheets in his cell at Nuremberg Prison.
Picture: Conti(left) talking with Brandt.
Source: bpk-Bildagentur
On 5 October 1945, Thomas J. Dodd, executive trial counsel for the Office of the United States Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality, continues his interrogation of Wilhelm Keitel, former Chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW).
In large part, the indictment against Keitel and 23 other Nazi functionaries and military commanders by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Nuremberg on 29 August was the result of Dodd`s interrogations since June.
In a session on 27 September, Keitel stated that he does not recall a conference during the Polish Campaign with Hitler, Jodl, Ribbentrop, Canaris, and Lahousen in which the summary executions of Soviet POWs was discussed, but that an order was issued `to segregate Russian Commissars from other prisoners of war and give them ˝special treatment˝`. In fact, Keitel went on to personally rebuff German military lawyers in 1941 when they argued for the treatment of Soviet POWs according to the Geneva Conventions with the statement: ˝These doubts correspond to military ideas about wars of chivalry. Our job is to suppress a way of life.˝
Today, Dodd presents Keitel with notes from a conference with Hitler, Bormann, Lammers, Göring, and Rosenberg in which he made a remark to the effect of the need to execute residents in occupied areas `who failed to do as they ought should be shot` . Keitel admits he did make this statement.
Dodd then presents the `Nacht und Nebel` or Night and Fog Decree, which ordered the imprisonment, secret internment in Germany, and execution or `disappearance` of any political enemies or those who actively assisted resistance movements in Nazi-occupied territories. Keitel states: ˝I recognize it; I acknowledge it; and I also signed it.˝ He does the same with his directive supplementing the Decree on 12 December, which reads: ˝Efficient and enduring intimidation can only be achieved either by capital punishment or by measures by which the relatives of the criminals do not know the fate of the criminal.˝
Picture: Alfred Jodl (left) and Keitel (right) eat in a makeshift dining room adjacent to the courtroom at Nuremberg
Source: U.S. National Archives
On 4 October 1945, the trial of Pierre Laval, former Prime Minister of Nazi-occupied France, begins in Paris.
Pierre Laval, born in 1883, began his career as a socialist and a lawyer but gradually shifted towards more conservative politics. He held various ministerial roles in the 1920s and 1930s, eventually becoming Prime Minister of France twice, first in 1931-1932 and again in 1935-1936.
After France’s defeat by Germany in 1940, Laval joined Marshal Philippe Pétain’s government in Vichy. He became the main architect of France’s collaboration policy, serving as both Deputy Prime Minister and, from 1942 onwards, Prime Minister under German supervision.
Laval played a crucial role in aligning Vichy France with Nazi Germany. He actively facilitated the deportation of Jews to concentration camps, enforced German economic policies, and worked to suppress French resistance efforts. On 22 June 1942, Laval infamously declared, "I desire the victory of Germany," a statement that has further solidified his image as a traitor.
Along with the Vichy government and Marshal Philippe Pétain, whose trial we also covered in our 23 July post, Laval was forced by the Germans to relocate to Belfort on 20 August 1944 and then to Sigmaringen Castle in Baden-Württemberg, Germany on 8 September 1944.
By the time U.S. troops neared Sigmaringen in April this year, Laval had arranged to be flown to Spain by a Luftwaffe plane. However, pressure from General Charles de Gaulle forced the Spanish to expel Laval, returning him aboard the same plane to U.S.-occupied Austria just three months later. His attempts to seek refuge in Lichtenstein were rebuffed, and he returned to Austria, where U.S. military authorities arrested him and handed him over to the French.
Today, Judge Pierre Mongibeaux convenes the first session of the trial in the High Court of Justice in Paris.
Laval will now be tried as a traitor for plotting against the security of the state and for collaborating with the enemy, and given the current revenge-charged political climate in France, he is unlikely to avoid being convicted.
Picture: Laval`s testimony during the trial of Marshal Philippe Pétain
Source: Getty Images
On 3 October 1945, the United Nations Executive Committee formally recommends that the USA should host the headquarters of the newly formed international organization.
As the UN has begun to take shape administratively, one of the major questions was where its permanent headquarters should be located. A number of possible sites have been proposed, reflecting both strategic and symbolic considerations. The United Nations Preparatory Commission, which oversees most of these early stages of forming the organization, has tasked its Executive Committee with evaluating potential locations. This committee, alongside other UN planning bodies, has been seeking to find a site that would symbolize international unity while also offering practical benefits in terms of logistics, communication, and security.
The U.S. quickly emerged as the leading candidate to host the UN headquarters for several reasons. First, the U.S. had played a pivotal role in shaping the post-war order, both militarily and economically. The U.S. economy has remained strong throughout the war while suffering no physical damage, unlike much of Europe, and its status as a global superpower makes it an attractive location for the UN’s base of operations. Furthermore, the USA`s geographical location, far from Europe’s recent battlegrounds, provides a sense of stability and safety for the HQ. The relatively neutral territory of the U.S. is also appealing, given the tensions beginning to surface between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies.
There are, however, competing ideas. Switzerland, with its long-standing neutrality, and the Netherlands, with its central location, are also under consideration, as are sites in Canada. However, the practical advantages of placing the HQ in the U.S., particularly its infrastructure, access to financial support, and political stability, have swayed the Executive Committee`s decision in favour of the U.S.
The Preparatory Commission will soon assign the question of the HQ to Committee 8 (General Questions) for consideration, and a decision is expected in the coming weeks.
Picture: Executive Committee of the UN Conference, 8 May 1945
Source: AP
On 2 October 1945, `The Straits Chronicle`, a newspaper based out of Malacca, Malaysia, publishes an article written by reporter Gabriel M. David detailing a horrific massacre of 155 Chinese at the start of the occupation in 1942.
The article reads as follows:
˝...With the arrival of the Jap invaders, outcasts and reprobates joined the ranks of the Jap Gestapo Organization as informers and stool-pidgeons. Three days after the occupation, a detachment of Jap forces went up to Asahan on some mission of mopping-up elements... On the way up to the reservoir a hail of bullets poured into the Jap truck injuring some but killing no one. This was probably the work of some courageous party of guerillas who were fighting a delayed action in giving time to their friends and comrades to withdraw into the jungles of Asahan before the Japs could surround them.
The Japs having met with this rather hot and unwelcome reception did a speedy about-face and returned to Malacca and after reinforcing themselves with some 300 or 400 Jap militia they came back to Tenong in Asahan area. Alighting from their lorry and armed to the teeth with machineguns and rifles, they ordered all the Chinese residents of the place to get out of their houses. The whole area was cordoned off by these Jap assassins and every avenue of escape was completely cut off...
The Chinese were then divided into three groups and among them were men, women, and children and your women quick of child. Having torn off strip of clothing from the wearing apparel of these poor people, the Japs blindfolded and gagged them and tying their hands behind their backs they were herded into three empty houses and locked in. Then petrol was sprayed all over the building and all three were set on fire by the Jap fiends...
One boy of seven who managed to free himself, ran out but was shot by a Jap and thrown back into the burning building. Hardly within half-an-hour the whole of the three buildings were burned to the ground and nothing was left except ashes and charred bones...˝
Picture: Japanese troops marching through Fullerton Square, Singapore, 1942
Source: IWM HU 2787
On 1 October 1945, King Leopold III of Belgium broadcasts from his new residence in Switzerland a proclamation attempting to defend his actions during the German occupation.
Since the formal request by Belgian Prime Minister Achille Van Acker for Leopold`s abdication, which we covered in our 20 July post, the Belgian `Royal Question` has further escalated into a full-blown parliamentary attack aimed at demonstrating that the King was complicit in Germany`s occupation.
In a speech on the day he made the abdication request, Van Acker exclaimed:
˝To those who say that the King went to Berchtesgaden by order of the Führer, I answer that it is not so. The audience was solicited by the King; the trip was premeditated and prepared long in advance; the interview with Chancellor Hitler had political importance…˝
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paul-Henri Spaak followed on 25 July with: ˝Yet … there are some who seem to find it quite natural that the King of the Belgians, in the midst of war, should go to Berchtesgaden to take part in political discussions … and when these discussions were over to take tea with the Führer.…˝
The accusations have continued, with even Leopold`s deportation to a fort in Hirschstein, Saxony, on 7 June 1944, marked as voluntary rather than forced upon him by the Germans.
Leopold, who had been residing in Salzburg, Austria, adopted a different kind of defence over the past month-and-a-half, one that maintained innocence in the face of the Government’s accusation of complicity.
However, in the last few days, he has taken the opportunity to move to a villa near Geneva, Switzerland.
Today, he broadcasts via radio his statement of defence:
˝On my departure to Switzerland, where I shall await silently the nation`s verdict at the elections, I wish to address you in all sincerity. I have the right to affirm one day, proof will be given to you - that the passive resistance which I maintained prevented Belgium from negotiating with temporarily victorious Germany...˝
Picture: King Leopold III poses with his wife, Princess Rethy, née Mariy Lilian Baels, on the balcony of their villa in Switzerland.
Source: Photopress Archiv
On 30 September 1945, General Mark W. Clark, U.S. Military Commissioner for Austria, submits a report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on his meeting with the Austrian Chancellor Karl Renner.
Ever since the proclamation of independence from Nazi Germany by the Soviet-backed Austrian Provisional Government under Renner, which we covered in our 27 April post, Austria has become one of the countries in which the growing tensions between East and West have become most evident.
Today, Clark reports on his meeting with Renner, in which he has sought to gain reassurances that Austria will follow a democratic and independent path:
˝General Clark asked Dr. Renner whether it would be possible to hold free and honest elections this fall. Dr. Renner, with great confidence, replied in the affirmative...
At the end of this discussion of elections, General Clark asked Dr. Renner if he could guarantee free and honest elections. To this Dr. Renner replied in the affirmative...
Dr. Renner then said that he wanted to bring up something with General Clark which he considered to be of supreme importance. He said that in Austria today he could strongly feel the political tug-of-war between the USSR and Great Britain. This made it extremely difficult for him when he had to do something which he knew would offend one or the other of these powers...
The Soviets, for example, had helped Austria in a time of great need and they wanted payment for this political debt. He needed, he said, to lean on an objective friend like the United States. He referred in this connection to the negotiations for the oil contract and said that the support of the United States had been very helpful in enabling him to resist Soviet pressure. He also referred to the Soviet interest in Danube shipping. This was a ticklish matter and he would need all the help he could get in trying to reach a solution which would be fair to Austria and all concerned...
Dr. Renner said that the Soviets were extraordinarily “tough” in their dealings and that they were meticulous in even the smallest matters...˝
Picture: Clark talking with General Alexis Zheltov
Source: LIFE
On 29 September 1945, troops of the Allied Forces Netherlands East Indies (AFNEI) land at Tanjung Priok, the main port of Jakarta, aboard the heavy cruiser HMS Cumberland.
Under the Potsdam Agreement, responsibility for the Dutch East Indies was given to the Allied South East Asia Command or SEAC.
However, the situation in Indonesia has changed dramatically since July as Indonesia has been set upon the path to resisting Dutch colonial control.
Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declared Indonesia’s independence following the Japanese surrender, which we covered in our 17 August post. However, the Dutch, who had ruled the region for over three centuries, seem determined to reassert their control over the Dutch East Indies.
In the preceeding weeks, anti-Dutch riots have erupted across Indonesia. Tensions have been particularly high in Jakarta, where clashes between pro-independence groups and Dutch loyalists are frequent. This situation is further complicated by the Japanese forces still in the region, who, despite being defeated, remain in control of critical areas and infrastructure.
In many parts of the country, including Jakarta, anti-colonial sentiment has quickly turned into what appears to be rebellion, with armed groups forming to resist any foreign intervention. At the Yamato Hotel on 19 September, Indonesian nationalists tore down the Dutch flag from the hotel in Surabaya, demonstrating a refusal to return under colonial rule.
Today, the first British troops arrive aboard the HMS Cumberland, officially under the command of Lt. Gen. Phillip Christison, deputy to SEAC commander Lord Louis Mountbatten, and as of today, Allied Commander of forces in Indonesia.
While these forces, and those which will soon arrive, are tasked with overseeing the transition from Japanese occupation, many Indonesians fear that the Allies, especially the British, are merely acting as intermediaries for the Dutch return to power.
Thus, it seems unlikely that the arrival of these troops will do much to calm the situation.
Picture: Soldier of an Indian armoured regiment examines a light tank used by Indonesian nationalists
Source: IWM SE 5742
On 28 September 1945, General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower offers General George S. Patton either dismissal from his positions as U.S. 3rd Army commander and military governor of Bavaria or a transfer to the small 15th Army during a meeting in Frankfurt.
The press ran with the story based on Patton`s comments last week that denazification was unnecessary and the comparisons made to a ˝Democrat-Republican election fight˝, which you can read more about in our 22 September post.
Those comments seem to have been the last straw for Eisenhower`s civil affairs officer, Brig. Gen. Clarence Adcock, Chief of Staff, Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, and Adcock`s civilian advisor, Dr. Walter L. Dorn, to bring together their reports to their superior - reports that contain scalding critiques of Patton`s dismissiveness of Bavaria`s officials former Nazi ties, evidence of his violently anti-Soviet views and even suggestions that ex-members of the Wehrmacht should be rearmed and used to help the U.S. Army fight the Red Army.
Adcock and Dorn, who arrived in Munich just a day before Patton made his denazification comments, have also confirmed that the Bavarian administration under Minister President Fritz Schäffer has a serious issue with employing bureaucrats and officials with ties to the Nazi Party.
Eisenhower has been taken aback by what is just one in a series of Patton`s controversial actions and comments and has summoned him to his HQ in Frankfurt.
After a seven-hour car journey in heavy rain, Patton arrives today to meet Eisenhower.
For two hours, the two generals discuss the situation in Bavaria, with Adcock and Dorn joining to give their reports.
Finally, when the two are alone again, Eisenhower makes Patton an offer - dismissal from all his posts or a transfer to command of the 15th Army, which as of right now consists of a headquarters at Bad Nauheim and a small detachment of special troops assigned to gather historical data on Allied operations during the war.
Patton accepts the offer.
He will relinquish command of the 3rd Army to his old comrade, General Lucian K. Truscott, on 7 October.
Picture: Patton greets Truscott
Source: U.S. Army
On 27 September 1945, Emperor Hirohito meets General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), for the first time.
Since MacArthur arrived in Japan, which we covered in our 30 August post, he has taken to his duty of administering the defeated nation with a curious benevolence, showing a significant amount of trust in the Japanese people. Neither MacArthur nor any of his officers and troops carry personal arms. Further, MacArthur has issued orders to ensure that all occupation troops treated Japanese citizens with honour and respect.
While assurances have been made that Emperor Hirohito will continue to lead the monarchy, following the idea of the kokutai, he still faces a somewhat uncertain future, as the issue of war guilt and punishment for war criminals continues to hang above the heads of the Japanese political and military leadership.
MacArthur, however, believes that retaining the emperor will help stabilize Japan during the occupation and ensure a smoother transition to a peaceful, democratic state.
This morning, Emperor Hirohito arrives at the U.S. Embassy in a black Daimler limousine, along with nine officials who follow him as he approaches the building. General Bonner Fellers, one of MacArthur’s chief advisors, greets Hirohito and escorts him upstairs to MacArthur`s office, leaving the imperial entourage behind.
As Hirohito, dressed in a formal black morning coat, enters the office, MacArthur appears in his usual khaki uniform, with five stars on the collar and no tie - a clear message that the U.S. authorities are in charge and won`t adhere to the pleasantries believed by the Japanese to befit the `incarnation of a deity`.
During the 40-minute-long meeting, Hirohito reportedly offers to take full responsibility for Japan’s actions during the war. He expresses his willingness to face any consequences, including personal punishment, if it would protect the Japanese people. MacArthur, however, reassures Hirohito that he would remain on the throne, albeit in a symbolic capacity, as a constitutional monarch under the new post-war framework.
Picture: Hirohito and General MacArthur
Source: U.S. Army
On 26 September 1945, Dean Acheson, Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of State, refers to a secret letter written by late President Franklin D. Roosevelt when asked about current and future U.S.-Spanish relations.
At a press conference today Acheson was asked to clarify once more the U.S. Government`s attitude toward Franco`s regime in Spain, to which he referred to the decisions made at San Francisco and Potsdam, and to emphasize this point revealed the contents of a letter sent by late President Roosevelt to the newly appointed ambassador to Spain on 10 March 1945:
˝My Dear Mr. Armour,
...Having been helped to power by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, having patterned itself against totalitarian lines, the present regime in Spain is naturally subject to distrust by a great many American citizens...
...These actions cannot be wiped out by actions more favourable to us now that we are about to achieve our goal of complete victory over those enemies of ours with whom the present Spanish regime identified itself in the past, spiritually and by its public expressions and acts.
The fact that our Government maintains formal diplomatic relations with the present regime should not be interpreted by anyone to imply approval of that regime and its sole party, the Falange which has been openly hostile to the United States and which has tried to spread its Fascist party ideas to the western atmosphere.
Our victory over Germany will carry with it the extermination of Nazi and similar ideologies.
I should be lacking in candour, however, if I did not tell you I can see no place in the community of nations for Governments founded on Fascist principles. We all have the most friendly feelings for the Spanish people and we are anxious to see the developments of cordial relations with them. There are many things which we could and normally would be glad to do in economic and other fields to demonstrate that friendship.
The initiation of such measures is out of the question at this time, however, when American sentiment is so profoundly opposed to the present regime in power in Spain.˝
Picture: Acheson speaks from the State Department in Washington, D.C.
Source: AP
On 25 September 1945, the Philippine Congress passes a bill establishing a People’s Court and an Office of Special Prosecutors for the `Prosecution and Trial of Crimes against National Security`.
As with many other states in this immediate post-war period, one of the major questions raised in the Philippines has been how to handle those who had collaborated with the occupiers who had wrought such destruction.
President Sergio Osmeña, advised by the U.S. authorities, has opted to push Congress to pass a bill establishing a special court to deal with such cases.
Today, he announces the passing of the bill, Commonwealth Act No. 682:
˝In response to my message of August 20, 1945, Congress has passed a bill, which I have just signed, creating a special court to be known as the People’s Court and an Office of Special Prosecutors for the prosecution and trial of persons accused of crimes against our national security committed during the war.
This law provides the necessary machinery to deal with political offenders with utmost dispatch and with the guarantees essential to a fair and impartial hearing. One of its salient features is that those who served the puppet governments during the Japanese occupation are disqualified from appointment to the People’s Court and the Office of Special Prosecutors. The jurisdiction of this Court is not limited to the political prisoners who are now being turned over by the United States Army to the Commonwealth, but to all persons charged with similar crimes against our national security.
With the signing of this bill, we can assure the Filipino people and the whole world that all who are accused of collaboration with the enemy will be tried by the processes of law and justice, which are as firmly established here as they are elsewhere in the civilized world.
Like all of our people, I am confident that the People’s Court will carry out its judicial tasks without fear and without favor, and that it will punish the guilty and exonerate the innocent.”
Picture: The Osmeña Family at Malacañang Palace c. 1945
Source: U.S. National Archives
On the morning of 24 September 1945, violent anti-Jewish protests erupt in the town of Topoľčany, Czechoslovakia.
Prior to the war, about a quarter of the population of Topoľčany or around 3,000 of 12,000 residents, was a very wealthy and well-educated Jewish community, holding over half of the registered businesses in the town.
Following the liberation of Czechoslovakia this spring, only some 550 to 750 Jews returned to Topoľčany after having been persecuted, deported to Nazi death camps, and their assets and property seized by Hlinka`s Slovak People`s Party (Slovenská ľudová strana, SĽS) members.
For several weeks now, however, there has been a sudden rise in anti-Jewish violence in the town, mainly spurred on by Hlinka supporters` claims that Jews were involved in the ongoing nationalization of private property and would be taking violent revenge on those who had confiscated their property during the war.
At 0800 hours this morning, a group of around 60 women gather in front of the local district national committee (ONV) to demand a halt to nationalization, and after being told these state policies could not be altered, begin to march through the city shouting antisemitic slogans.
Soon, the crowd grows to over 150 and then 300 people, among which false rumours of Jews destroying Christian religious symbols begin to circulate.
The rioters then move to the local school, where they accuse a local Jewish doctor, Karol Berger, who is at the school to vaccinate seven- and eight-year-old children, of poisoning them instead, and attack him.
As the riot spreads through the town, crowds assault Jewish residents, who flee to the police station. Soldiers dispatched to stop the riot join in on the violence instead, while the policemen attempt to protect Jews in the police station.
Finally, around 1300 hours, a special auxiliary police unit stops the riot, but only after about 48 Jewish residents had been seriously injured.
In the following days, 50 people, including 20 soldiers, will be arrested for participating in the riot.
Picture: Topoľčian leaders of the People`s Party and the Hlinka Guard
Source: Archives of the authors of the document `Love your neighbor`
On 23 September 1945, the Egyptian government formally requests the withdrawal of British forces so that Egyptian troops could occupy Sudan.
Egypt initially gained control over Sudan in the early 1800s, but after the Mahdist Revolt in 1885, Egypt lost its hold over the region. Anglo-Egyptian forces reconquered Sudan in 1898 under British General Herbert Kitchener. Following this, the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium was established in 1899, wherein Sudan was nominally under joint control, but in reality, Britain held the dominant influence in the region’s governance. Egyptian nationalists, however, regarded Sudan as an integral part of Egypt and resented British dominance.
During the war, Egypt became a critical base for British military operations in North Africa. Although officially neutral, Egypt`s strategic importance in the fight against Axis forces underscored British military presence. As the war ended, Egyptian nationalists saw an opportunity to press for full sovereignty, including control over Sudan.
Today, Egypt demands the withdrawal of British forces to allow their own troops to enter Sudan, following earlier tensions related to the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, which allowed British troops to remain in Egypt despite growing nationalist opposition.
For Egypt, Sudan is not only an economic asset but a vital part of Egyptian territory.
The British will almost certainly resist the Egyptian demands, viewing Sudan as critical to their geopolitical interests in Africa, and likely argue that Sudan’s future should be determined by its people.
Picture: The Alamein bell is sounded to open a thanksgiving service for British service personnel at the El Alamein Club in Cairo to commemorate the end of the war in Europe, 14 May 1945. This bell was brought from the famous desert railway station at El Alamein.
Source: IWM E 30918
On 22 September 1945, General George S. Patton, U.S. Third Army commander and military governor of Bavaria, sparks controversy in an interview by stating that he had ˝never seen the necessity of the denazification program.˝
The Allies, aiming to remove Nazis from public office have faced difficulties in doing so without crippling administrative functions. SHAEF issued an informal policy in March with a cutoff date for dismissal for public office being whether someone had joined the Nazi Party prior to 1933.
On 11 June 1945, SHAEF adjusted its policy to maintain administrative stability and ETOUSA HQ followed with the 29 June statement that the cutoff date of 1937 had been chosen because, after 1 May 1937, public employees had been required to join the Nazi Party.
Among general press criticism of weak denazification efforts during July and early August, the contentious issue of General Patton’s appointment of Fritz Schäffer as prime minister of Bavaria appeared. Schäffer, a pre-war politician with no Nazi ties, faced criticism for retaining former Nazi officials as advisors, including a former Wehrmacht officer.
Patton himself has expressed disdain for denazification. He argued in a letter to General Eisenhower on 11 August that removing everyone with Nazi ties was impractical, likening it to dismissing public servants in the U.S. based on political party affiliations.
Tensions escalated when it was revealed in August that many political screening questionnaires (Fragebögen) had gone missing in Bavaria.
Yesterday, on 21 September, General Adcock, a top G-5 officer overseeing denazification, visited Munich alongside civilian advisor Dr. Walter L. Dorn.
Today, Patton, questioned by the press about his stance, responds by likening the issue over Nazism to a ˝Democrat-Republican election fight˝.
Tomorrow, several articles criticizing Patton`s understanding of politics and questioning the Army`s ability to conduct military government will appear in newspapers across the USA. Once again, Patton causes Eisenhower and the U.S. Army to worry about their political and public image.
Picture: Eisenhower during a visit to Patton`s HQ at Bad Tölz, Sep 1945
Source: AP
On 21 September 1945, Soviet NKVD agent Andrei Onishchenko arrives in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture Konstantin Volkov, a senior Soviet intelligence officer who is attempting to defect to Britain.
Konstantin Volkov, Vice Consul for the Soviet Union in Istanbul, has also been the NKVD deputy rezident (leader of a spy group) for Turkey for some time. If you want to learn more about the Soviet rezidentura system of spy networks, watch the first part of Astrid and Anna`s special series on the Soviet spy couple, the Zarubins, over on our YouTube channel.
Sometime in August 1945, Volkov first sent a letter and then approached in person the British consulate in Istanbul with an offer: he was willing to reveal 314 Soviet agents in Turkey and 250 Soviet agents in Britain, including two highly placed moles in the government, in return for political asylum and £27,500.
MI6 very quickly assigned the task of handling the defection to Kim Philby, a very high-ranking officer in the Russian Section of MI6 Counter Intelligence.
The issue is that Philby himself has been a Soviet spy as part of the Cambridge Five since the 1930s, so when he learned of Volkov`s intentions, he immediately informed his NKVD handlers and then insisted on Volkov`s request being transmitted to Britain via diplomatic courier rather than the British Cipher System.
Philby has further delayed his departure for Instabul by entangling himself with cross-departmental bureaucracy between the SIS and the Foreign Office, allowing the NKVD to organize an operation.
They dispatched Andrei Onishchenko, an experienced field operative who previously served as the head of Stalin`s security during the Tehran Conference and has since been the Head of the Middle Eastern Department of the 1st NKVD Directorate.
Onishchenko arrives in Istanbul today under the guise of a diplomatic courier together with a small team of field operatives.
They will locate Volkov and his wife, Zoya, very quickly. Three days from now, they will load a heavily sedated Volkov and his wife aboard a Soviet transport plane bound for Moscow.
The couple will never be seen again.
Picture: Philby with journalists in London, 1955
Source: DailyMail
On 20 September 1945, the Allied Control Council (ACC) issues a directive which organizes its own work and Control Council Law No. 1 - Repealing of Nazi Laws.
The ACC`s establishment as a controlling body was first put forth in the Berlin Declaration, the signing of which we covered in our 5 June post, then further clarified in the Potsdam Agreement.
Since then, the representatives from the four Allied powers, Marshal Georgy Zhukov for the Soviet Union, General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower for the U.S., Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery for the United Kingdom, and General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny for France, have begun the work of organizing an institution which will, in essence, replace an executive government in Germany until further notice.
On 30 August 1945, the ACC constituted itself and issued its first proclamation, which informed the German people of the council`s existence and asserted that the commands and directives issued by the commanders-in-chief in their respective zones were not affected by the establishment of the council.
Today, the ACC issues its first directive and law.
Ironically, Directive no. 10 divides the various official acts of the Control Council into five types - Proclamations, Laws, Orders, Directives (communicating policy of administrative decisions of the Council), and Instructions (by the Council to another authority).
Additionally, the ACC issues Control Council Law No. 1, which repeals all laws instituted by the Nazi government, starting with the Enabling Act of 1933, which allowed Hitler to enact laws without the Reichstag’s consent.
Technically, if the Allied occupation was not in place, this law would return Germany to the state of affairs under the Weimar Constitution.
Law No. 1 also repeals from the German legal system legislation that allowed for arbitrary arrests, concentration camps, and the persecution of Jews, Romani people, political dissidents, and other minority groups, thus contributing to the Allied denazification program which each of the occupying powers has been implementing in their own way.
Picture: US soldier takes down a sign for Hitler Street
Source: U.S. National Archives
On 19 September 1945, William Joyce, infamously known as the Nazi propaganda broadcaster `Lord Haw-Haw` is sentenced to death for treason at the Old Bailey (Central Criminal Court of England and Wales).
Joyce, whose story from member of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) to the voice of English-language Nazi propaganda and then to his arrest by British troops in Germany we covered in our 28 May post, has since spent his time in prison.
In early September, his trial began at the Old Bailey, with Lord Chief Justice Sir Rayner Goddard presiding over the case. Joyce faced three charges of high treason for aiding the enemy through his broadcasts, which were designed to demoralize British troops and civilians during the war
The basis of these charges is the Treason Act of 1351, one of the oldest statutes in English law, which holds that British subjects could be tried for treason even if they committed the act outside of the country. The prosecution, led by Attorney General Sir Hartley Shawcross, presented strong evidence that Joyce had, through his broadcasts on Radio Hamburg, given "aid and comfort" to the enemy.
Joyce’s defence, led by his barrister Gerald Slade KC, hinged on the argument that he could not be guilty of treason because he was not a British subject on account of him being born in the USA and acquiring a British passport through deceit in 1933. Joyce himself has argued that his loyalty had shifted to Germany after he took up residence there in 1939.
Today, the court announces that it sentences Joyce to death by hanging for high treason. While Shawcross has directed the jury to acquit Joyce of the two charges, Shawcross, on the other hand, has argued that Joyce`s possession of a British passport, even though he had misstated his nationality to get it, entitled him until it expired to British diplomatic protection in Germany and therefore he owed allegiance to the King at the time he began working for the Germans.
Britain seems to be sending a clear message that treason and collaboration with the enemy will not be tolerated.
Picture: Joyce standing in front of a Nazi Germany building
Source: Archives of the Law Society of Ontario
On 18 September 1945, U.S. President Harry Truman gives a statement on the liberation of Korea.
With the arrival of U.S. occupation troops and the official surrender of Japanese forces in Korea, which we covered in our 8 September post, the process of reformulating the country into a functional political entity free from Japanese control has begun.
However, the political and military division along the 38th parallel between U.S. and Soviet zones and Lieutenant General Hodge`s military government seems to be making this process more difficult than in other areas formerly occupied by Japan. It is, in particular, Hodge`s decision, for lack of a more elegant solution and on the orders of General MacArthur, to retain a significant number of Japanese in the police, administration, and bureaucracy that is causing some concern about the future of Korea.
Today`s statement by President Truman echoes exactly this sentiment:
˝The surrender of the Japanese forces in Seoul, ancient Korean capital, heralds the liberation of a freedom-loving and heroic people... The Japanese warlords are being removed. Such Japanese as may be temporarily retained are being utilized as servants of the Korean people and of our occupying forces only because they are deemed essential by reason of their technical qualifications.
In this moment of liberation we are mindful of the difficult tasks which lie ahead. The building of a great nation has now begun with the assistance of the United States, China, Great Britain and the Soviet Union, who are agreed that Korea shall become free and independent.
The assumption by the Koreans themselves of the responsibilities and functions of a free and independent nation and the elimination of all vestiges of Japanese control over Korean economic and political life will of necessity require time and patience. The goal is in view but its speedy attainment will require the joint efforts of the Korean people and of the allies.
The American people rejoice in the liberation of Korea as the Taegook-kee, the ancient flag of Korea, waves again in the Land of the Morning Calm.˝
Picture: The Japanese flag is lowered in Seoul, Korea
Source: Getty Images
On 17 September 1945, a British military tribunal convenes in Lüneburg, Germany, to begin the trial of 45 former SS men, women and kapos from the Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz concentration camps.
Upon discovering and liberating the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 15 April, British troops were confronted with the horrifying reality of Nazi concentration camps, finding around 60,000 emaciated and ill survivors and 13,000 unburied dead bodies scattered throughout the main camp and its satellitess.
The most prominent of the camp staff and overseers that British troops arrested and are now standing trial is Josef Kramer, known as the `Beast of Belsen`, former commandant of Bergen-Belsen and previously of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Alongside Kramer, other key defendants include Irma Grese, whom prisoners called the `Hyena of Auschwitz`, a notoriously cruel female SS guard who worked at both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Fritz Klein, the camp doctor at Bergen-Belsen, was personally responsible for selecting prisoners to be sent to the gas chambers at Auschwitz. Elisabeth Volkenrath had been a guard at both Ravensbrück and Auschwitz, before being transferred to Bergen-Belsen and given the title of Oberaufseherin (head warden).
The prosecution, led by Presiding Judge Major-General H.M.P. Berney-Ficklin, has been building a case based on the Regulations for the Trial of War Criminals made under Royal Warrant of 14 June 1945, which allowed for the prosecution of war criminals in breach of international laws which were in effect at the time the crime was committed. Thus, the charges which the prosecution has been preparing are of war crimes and crimes against citizens of the Allied countries, but not of the `crimes against humanity` and `crimes against peace` which have been recently agreed upon to be applied by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.
Today, the trial begins in a specially prepared courtroom in the MTV gymnasium, Lindenstraße 30 in Lüneburg.
Picture: Kramer, photographed in leg irons at Belsen before being removed to the POW cage at Celle, 17 April 1945
Source: IWM BU 3749
On 16 September 1945, Japanese forces officially surrender Hong Kong to British authorities, ending nearly four years of brutal occupation.
The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began on 25 December 1941, following fierce fighting in which British, Canadian, and Indian forces were overwhelmed by the Japanese Imperial Army (IJA) on `Black Christmas. The Japanese swiftly imposed harsh military rule over the city.
Food shortages, forced labour, and widespread executions have been common, causing widespread suffering among the population and POWs. Hong Kong’s population of 1.6 million before the invasion has plummeted to around 600,000 by now. Allied POWs, including British, Canadian, and Indian soldiers, have been held in horrific conditions at camps like Sham Shui Po.
Several resistance movements have risen up in Hong Kong despite the brutal retributions they faced. These groups, including the British Army Aid Group (BAAG), a covert organization formed in China, the Communist East River Column, and Kowloon Brigade, conducted sabotage, gathered intelligence, and helped smuggle out information about Japanese troop movements. Though their operations were limited by the overwhelming Japanese presence, they played a key role in keeping the hope of liberation alive.
Following Japan’s surrender on 15 August 1945 after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese forces in Hong Kong prepared for the handover of the colony. The British, eager to reassert control over Hong Kong before the Chinese Communist or Kuomintang forces arrived had Task Group 111.2 under Rear Admiral Cecil Harcourt divert to secure Victoria Harbour and make preparatory landings to capture the remaining Japanese forces.
On 30 August 1945, Harcourt arrived in Hong Kong aboard HMS Indomitable to begin the process of reoccupation.
Today, Lieutenant General Takashi Sakai, the commander of the Japanese garrison in Hong Kong, and Vice Admiral Ruitaro Fujita sign the instrument of surrender, which Harcourt accepts, during a ceremony at the Government House in the city.
Picture: Okada handing over his sword during the ceremony
Source: Library and Archives Canada PA-114815
On 15 September 1945, the U.S. government officially dissolves the Office of War Information (OWI).
OWI was formed under President Roosevelt`s Executive Order 9182 of 13 June 1942, which consolidated the functions of the Office of Facts and Figures (OFF), the Office of Government Reports, and the Division of Information of the Office for Emergency Management while The Foreign Information Service, a division of the Office of the Coordinator of Information, became the core of the Overseas Branch of the OWI.
On the domestic front, the OWI’s primary task was to provide accurate information to the public while also shaping opinions about key issues; through the creation of posters like "Rosie the Riveter" and “Loose Lips Sink Ships,” OWI`s propaganda has rallied Americans to support the war in practical ways, from working in factories to safeguarding military secrets. Internationally, OWI operated programs like The Voice of America, broadcasting pro-Allied news to territories occupied by the Axis powers. Additionally, the OWI managed propaganda campaigns aimed at eroding enemy morale and promoting Allied unity.
Throughout its operations, however, the OWI has faced criticism from various sectors of American society, with politicians, especially conservative members of Congress, accusing the agency of being overly partisan and using government resources to promote leftist or New Deal-style agendas. There was also concern over the agency’s domestic propaganda, with it sometimes blurring the line between providing information and indoctrination.
Following two years of diminishing budgets a reduction in the need for such work, especially after the surrender of Japan, it became clear the OWI`s work was no longer needed and two weeks ago, on 31 August, President Truman issued Executive Order 9608 for the termination of the agency and distribution of its responsibilities to other U.S. federal agencies.
Today, that Executive Order goes into effect, and OWI officially ceases to exist.
Picture: Office of War Information office and workers
Source: National WWII Museum
On 14 September 1945, the ashes of Subhas Chandra Bose are memorialized and interred at the Renkō-ji Temple in Tokyo, Japan.
Bose`s disillusionment with Mahatma Gandhi`s non-violent approach and desire to pursue more radical methods to liberate India from British colonial rule led him to break away from the Congress Party, eventually founding the Forward Bloc in 1939, and then using the start of the war to seek German and Japanese backing to launch an armed struggle against the British. In 1941, he made a daring escape from India to seek German assistance, and in 1942, was even received by Adolf Hitler.
Bose traveled to Japan in 1943, where he took command of the Indian National Army (INA), an armed force made up of Indian POWs and Indian expatriates.
Under his leadership, the INA fought alongside the Japanese in Burma and parts of Northeast India. Bose also declared the formation of the Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind), which was based in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia and declared war against Britain and the Allied forces.
By August 1944, the INA had suffered heavy losses, and Bose`s military and political power began to dwindle.
Following Emperor Hirohito`s surrender announcement last month, Bose sought to escape to Japan and then to the Soviet Union in hopes of securing further support. However, on 18 August, while en route, Bose died in a plane crash in Taihoku, Formosa, alongside Lieutenant-General Tsunamasa Shidei, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Japanese Kwantung Army, who was to have facilitated the negotiations for Bose with the Soviets in Manchuria.
Bose`s body was cremated in the main Taihoku crematorium on 20 August.
On 7 September, Lieutenant Tatsuo Hayashida, carried Bose`s ashes to Tokyo, and the following morning they were handed to the president of the Tokyo Indian Independence League, Rama Murti.
Today, members of the Independence League, together with some Japanese government officials, hold a memorial for Bose and hand over his ashes to the priest of the Renkō-ji Temple of Nichiren Buddhism.
Picture: Lin Baisheng and Chu Minyi accompany Bose during his visit to Nanjing in November 1943
Source: COTCA Digital Archive
On 13 September 1945, Lieutenant General Hatazō Adachi surrenders the remnants of his 18th Army to Major General Horace Robertson, commander of the Australian 6th Division, at a ceremony at Cape Wom, near Wewak.
On 9 November 1942, Adachi was appointed commander in chief of the newly formed 18th Army on Rabaul and the north coast of New Guinea. The 20th and 41st Division both arrived safely. However, the IJA 51st Division, including Adachi and his senior staff, came under Allied air attack while en route from Rabaul to Lae in March 1943 during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, leaving only 2,427 men of the division alive.
Nevertheless, Adachi still had some 130,000 men under his command.
However, between the joint U.S. and Australian landings in 1943 and early 1944, and then the Australian infantry pursuing Adachi`s forces across the treacherous terrain of the Finisterre Range, by 10 July last year, the Japanese 18th Army had effectively been reduced to only the 41st Division, which itself suffered heavy losses by the end of August in the Battle of the Driniumor River and subsequently retreated into the Prince Alexander Mountains.
During this entire campaign, Adachi`s forces have also been suffering from a chronic ammunition shortage and tropical diseases, including malaria, heat exhaustion and malnutrition, despite Adachi`s efforts to achieve some form of self-sufficiency by planting crops and giving priority in rations to the sick.
Despite his wish to fight till the end, it seems that even he has realized that surrender is the only option for the 13,000 or so starving troops remaining under his command.
Today, Adachi and his aide arrive at an airstrip at Cape Wom, where they are greeted by Major General Robertson, Major Douglas Burrows, Deputy Assistant Adjutant General of the 6th Division, as well as several hundred Australian soldiers.
Following a short ceremony and agreement on the terms of surrender, Adachi hands his sword to Robertson, and his aide hands his sword to Burrows, marking the formal surrender of the remaining Japanese forces in New Guinea.
Picture: Gen. Adachi hands his sword to Maj. Gen. Robertson
Source: AWM 019296
On 12 September 1945, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of Southeast Asia Command, receives the formal surrender of Japanese forces in South East Asia at Singapore City Hall.
A few days ago, on 4 September, General Seishirō Itagaki, commander of the the Japanese Seventh Area Army in Singapore and Malaya, together with Vice Admiral Shigeru Fukudome and his aides, agreed to the surrender of an estimated 77,000 Japanese troops in Singapore and 26,000 in Malaya, aboard the HMS Sussex in Keppel Harbour.
However, the formal surrender ceremony was set to be attended by the top commanders of all the Allied forces present in the theatre.
Today, Mountbatten, accompanied by the Deputy Supreme Commander Raymond Wheeler, arrive by car to Singapore City Hall to great fanfare.
As they arrive in front of the Municipal Building, four Guards-of-Honour, from the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, the Indian army, and Australian paratroopers, meet them and escort them into the chamber prepared for the surrender ceremony.
During the lengthy proceedings, General Itagaki, on behalf of Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi, commander of the Japanese Southern Army Group who had fallen ill recently, signs 11 copies 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, Mountbatten and the South East Asia Command records.
Among the over 400 spectators, one officer each representing the different fighting forces, the Gurkhas, Sikhs, Australians, British airmen, Dutch, Americans, French (disembarked from the battleship Richelieu) and the 5th Indian Division, is present.
The ceremony concludes with the hoisting of the Union Jack and the playing of the national anthems of all the Allied nations. This is the same flag that flew over the Government House before the war and which was hidden by Malayan civil servant Mervyn Cecil Frank Sheppard in his pillow during his captivity in the Changi prison.
Picture: Mountbatten gives an address from the steps of the Municipal Buildings in Singapore during the ceremony
Source: IWM CF 720
On the afternoon of 11 September 1945, former Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo attempts suicide as U.S. troops arrive at his house to arrest him.
Since his resignation from the position of both Prime Minister and Minister of War on 18 July 1944, Tojo has retreated to his home in the suburbs of Tokyo, 19 km (12 mi) from the city centre.
However, just a week after Japan`s official surrender on 2 September, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, ordered the arrest of forty individuals suspected of war crimes, including Tojo.
At 1610 hours today, two journalists, United Press International war correspondent Frank Bartholomew and Toichiro Takamatsu of the Tokyo newspaper Mainichi arrive at Tojo`s house.
Tojo`s police guard informs them that Tojo is not home, so they decide to wait.
Within a few minutes, Tojo returns and enters his house. Shortly after, Maj. Paul Kraus of the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps arrives carrying orders for his arrest. Five Army Intelligence officers, led by Lt. John J. Wilpers Jr., surround the premises.
Tojo appears in one of the windows, to which Kraus demands that he opens the door so that he can present his credentials and the arrest orders.
Tojo disappears into the house and at 1621 hours, a shot is heard from inside.
Kraus and Wilpers first force the front door and then the door to Tojo`s study.
There, they find Tojo unconscious, legs crossed in the ceremonial seppuku position, holding a .32 caliber pistol he had just fired into his chest. As photographers swarm the house, Kraus directs his driver to find medical assistance.
At 1644 hours, Tojo regains consciousness and proclaims: ˝I wanted to die by the sword but the pistol had to do. Banzai.˝
Army corpsmen and then Capt. James Johnson, a doctor from the 1st Cavalry Division, treat Tojo`s wounds and rush to give him a blood transfusion.
By late evening, doctors stabilize Tojo`s condition at a hospital in Tokyo.
We may yet see Tojo appear before a military tribunal.
Picture: Tojo lies limp in a chair with a gaping bullet wound just below the heart
Source: Charles Gorry for Times Union
