Chapter IV

Excerpts from the writings of Mme Jacqueline Dubois
- Translated by Gay Talbot-Stratford

Two weeks after the capitulation of the Empire of the Rising Sun to General Douglas MacArthur on the decks of the USS. Missouri, the Commander of the Japanese forces presented himself to General Rockey and General Worton in the French concession. General Ginosuke Yamachita and Uchida were both in uniform covered with medals, and carrying their ceremonial swords. Their officers were also in uniform, and stood rigidly at attention in front of their troops.
The Americans Generals and their officers, on the other hand, wore open necked shirts. There were no ties, medals or other decorations to be seen on their crumpled khaki uniforms.
General MacArthur had set an example by his casual attire in contrast with that of the vanquished Japs.

Curley told me that he had carried a weapon that day; it was a 1.45 automatic pistol that his father had used during the First World War. “The ceremony was cold as ice, but emotional for us” he said. “After the signing ceremony at an unpolished table in a street that had been closed to traffic, we invited the representatives from the Chinese, the British, the Swiss, the Swedish and the American communities to our quarters. We drank champagne and there was much backslapping. General Rockey gave me a Japanese ceremonial sword and a flag of the Japanese Imperial Army.”

The official ceremony of surrender took place on the twelfth of October 1945.

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