Lot # : 188 - Japanese Instrument of Surrender

[WWII] FIRST EXTANT DRAFT COPY OF JAPANESE INSTRUMENT OF SURRENDER IN ENGLISH. DATED AUG. 31 1945, stamped 1945 AUG 31 1 20, prior to the official ceremony on the 2nd of September. Draft of Surrender document about 85% compatible with the document as signed during the ceremony. Dated on the originally agreed upon date for the surrender of Japanese as dictated in the documents from the August 19th Surrender summit in Manila, Philippines. The date would be pushed back to the 2nd due to poor weather that impeded the preparations outlined. These 23 pages are raw cables from the transmitted messages from the Pacific Front to the Communications Intelligence Organization (Op-20-G). Such transmissions would be the first to be received and then discarded after they would be entered in officially. The first 8 slips contain Japanese Instrument of Surrender as follows, with a few alterations to the final document as signed as well as a few missed words as noted: H 31 AUG 45 / Nimine DE Kasuke / BT We acting by command of and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan - tre[sic] Japanese Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters - hereby accept the provisions 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. BT2 We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to the Representatives of Japanese Armed Forces and all Arme [sic] Forces under Japanese Control wherever ituted [sic] under our command. BT3 We hereby command all Japanese forces wherever situated under our command and the Japanese people within our areas or command to cease hostilities forthwith comma [sic] to preserve and save from damage all ships comma aircraft comma and military and civil property and to comply with al [sic] requirements which may be imposed by the Commander in Chief comma period [sic] Pacific Fleet comma or by rgeneses/General (?) of the Japanese Government at his direction period direction period [sic]. BT4 Whereby command all commanders of (MIssed Word) under our command to issue at once orders to their respective forces wherever situated to surrender unconditionally themselves and all forces under their control. BT5 Whereby command all civil comma military and naval officials to obey and enforce all Proclamations comma orders and directives (missed word) by the Commander in Chief US Pacific Fleet comma 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 authority- BT6 Whereby for the sake of the Emperor comma the Japanese Government and thei [sic] successors and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters to carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration in good faith comma and to issue whatever orders and take whatever action may be required by the by the Commander in Chief comma U-S- Pacific Fleet comma or by any other designated representative of the Allied Powers for the purpose of giving effect to that Declaration - BT7 Whereby command all forces under our command at once to liberate all allied prisoners of war and civilian internees now under (2 letter correction) Japanese control and to provide for their protection comma care - maintenance and immediate transportation to places as directed. (2 letter correction) BT8 The authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme Commander fqr[sic] the Allied Powers who will take such steps as he deems proper to effectuate these terms of surrender - ve This final leaf is stamped with the date 1945 AUG 31 3 23, each leaf stamped with Charles A. Jensen in purple. Charles Andrew Jensen (1916-2007), served during World War II in the United States Navy in Communications Intelligence working on incoming encrypted Japanese messages as an Ensign, resigning in 1948 with the rank of Lieutenant. On August 15, Emperor Hirohito gave a recorded radio address across the Empire on 15 August announcing the surrender of Japan to the Allies in accordance and accepting the terms outlined by the Potsdam Declaration. As the Allies begin to plan the occupation of Japan, Truman would sign off on an Aug. 18th memorandum stating that the U.S. would be committed to "the principle of united action," but would keep the position of control. This would give the United States the principal roles in crafting and planning the surrender of Japan as well as how the occupation would work out, with assistance by the Allied Powers. After the diplomatic delegation met in Manila on the 19th and 20th of August to work out the terms of the surrender and occupation, General MacArthur anticipated that, subject to weather conditions which would permit the necessary air and naval operations, the Instrument of Surrender would be signed within ten days (August 31st). "It is my earnest hope," he announced after the departure of Japan's representatives from Manila, "that pending the formal accomplishment of the Instrument of Surrender, armistice conditions may prevail on every front and that bloodless surrender may be effectuated." This draft copy of the Surrender has an interesting point that it repeatedly dictates that the surrendering to the United States and the Allied Powers and subsequent occupation of Japan will be to the Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet in control, who at the time would have be Admiral Nimitz, instead of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, who later be General Douglas MacArthur as agreed upon by the Allied Powers on Oct. 1, 1945. This may have been an oversight by either the Japanese delegation or even the U.S. delegation at the peace conference held in Manila on the 20th of August, or thinking MacArthur held both titles in the military. Paragraphs noted as BT4, BT5 and BT6 have the most comparable differences to the final document. The additional documents detail the progression of the surrender and arrival preparations of the MacArthur delegation. One documents the trouble in preparations for the arrival of the SCAP by the Japanese Government, dated Aug 24th, due to difficulties brought on by Tropical Storm Grace (noted as Typhoon in the communique). Per the original 4 documents agreed upon and taken back to Japan by the Manila Delegation, SCAP stated that the acceptance of the surrender of the Japanese armed forces would occur in Tokyo Bay aboard a United States battleship on 31 August and such weather would delay the arrival of the occupation forces, MacArthur and the surrender ceremony. One document received and partially transposed from code, shows the agreement of the Government of Japan, using their delegates in Manila to hand over information of POW camps, noted in Document I of the Requirements of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Presented to the Japanese Representatives at Manila, P. I., on 19 August 1945, which called for the Japanese surrender delegation to be prepared to furnish all available information pertaining to “prisoner of war and civilian internment camps and places of detention, wherever located, within Japan and Japanese controlled areas.” 3 pages detail the Japanese response and acceptance of the cessations of hostilities issued by Japanese commanders to their forces and the progress being made within the Japanese conquered sphere to SPAC, though it mentioned the Attacks by Soviet and Mongolian forces. Several parts of the raw cables are not completely decoded or have slight errors noted. No examples of an early draft of the Japanese Surrender are readily available or present in institutions or the National Archives. Please see Reports of General MacArthur , 1950 (1994 reprint). Photographs of each page of this collection are available upon request. Provenance: From the descendants of Charles A. Jensen.