The News of the Week in Review
The Final Week: Steps Leading Up to the Formal Surrender of Japan (map) – 20
Surrender – 21-22
The Stage for Surrender (photo) – 22
Fifteen News Questions – 23
A New Map of Asia Begins to Take Shape (map) – 24
Chinese See a Chance to Avoid Civil Strife (by Tillman Durdin) – 25
Americans Entering Japan See Entirely Alien Land (by Henry C. Wolfe) – 26
“We Made Reservations Dec. 7, 1941” (cartoon) – 27
London Moves Cautiously to Frame Indian Policy (Matthews) – 27-28
Britain Balances Palestine Claims (by Sydney Gruson) – 28
Answers to Fifteen News Questions – 28
Editorials – 29-31
The War Against Japan
Topics of the Times
Letters to the Times – 32-34
The Best Selling Books, Here and Elsewhere (from N.Y. Times Book Review) – 34
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/8/02.htm
September 2nd, 1945 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Press censorship ends.
JAPAN: The battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) is the scene of the signing of formal surrender documents by representatives of the Japanese government. The “Mighty Mo” and much of the US 3rd Fleet is anchored in Tokyo Bay. (Picture)
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Pacific, signs for the Allies; Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Ocean Areas and Pacific Fleet, for the U.S.; Admiral Sir Bruce A. Fraser, Commander-in-Chief, British Pacific Fleet, for Britain. Other Allied commanders were present along with former POW Lieutenant Generals Arthur Percival, former commander of the British Malaya Command and Jonathan Wainright, former commander the U.S. Far East Command. The Japanese Foreign Minister SHIGEMITSU Mamotu and General UMEZU Yoshijiro, Chief of Imperial General Staff, sign for the Japanese government. The treaty calls for a U.S. Army of Occupation which will rule the Japanese Home Islands, but Emperor Hirohito remains the head of state and Japanese political and police officials maintain their positions. The Americans progressively disband the high command and military organizations. U.S. forces occupy island possessions in the Pacific. Korea was placed under American and Soviet occupation, pending the establishment of a democratic Korean government. The Japanese cede the Kurile Islands and the southern half of Sakhalin to the U.S.S.R. Outer Mongolia becomes part of the Soviet sphere of influence and the Soviets share the facilities and supervision of Lushun (Port Arthur) and the Manchurian railways with China. The Chinese regain sovereignty over Inner Mongolia and Manchuria, as well as the islands of Taiwan (Formosa) and Hainan. The British regain control of Hong Kong.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine I-41 is sunk by USS Batfish (SS-31) north of Luzon. (Mike Yared)(144 and 145)
Japanese troops in the Palau Islands; Truk Atoll; and Pagan and Rota Islands in the Mariana Islands, surrender to US forces.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: Vietnamese communist Ho Chi Minh declares the independence of Vietnam from France and proclaims himself president. The proclamation paraphrased the U.S. Declaration of Independence in declaring, “All men are born equal: the Creator has given us inviolable rights, life, liberty, and happiness!” He is cheered by an enormous crowd gathered in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh Square.
CANADA: HMC ML 116 paid off.
U.S.A.: Top pop songs include “If I Loved You” and “Till the End of Time” by Perry Como; “On The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe” by Johnny Mercer; and “You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often” by Tex Ritter.
Thank you for these for doing this for us here on FR. I have been educated and entertained by your hard work. I really appreciate what you have done.
Gee, I wonder how that will turn out.
My thanks to you as well, although I’ll be more effusive tomorrow. I’m quite sad that this exercise is coming to an end. I feel strange about that, as though I am sad that the war is over, when one should never be sad about the end of a war.
Homer, thank you for posting all these papers for all these years. Now I guess you can sleep in again and not wake Marge up!!
Guess we should thank Lisa for her photobucket.