SURRENDER CEREMONY

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 63, 12 September 1945, Page 8

SURRENDER CEREMONY

MOUNTBATTEN OVERRULED (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) Rec. 12.30 p.m. SINGAPORE, Sept. 11.

Led by the British battleship Nelson and the French battleship Richelieu, the Allied Fleet sailed into Singapore harbour this morning. The transports an . many landing craft will enter tomorrow. The surrender ceremony will take place in the Municipal Building at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Admiral Mountbaltcn will first inspect the guard of honour, after which the Japanese delegates, led by Itagaki, will be brought before him to sign the surrender documents.

American, Dutch, French, and Chinese representatives will ilank Admiral Mountbatten, who, after the signing, will address the parading troops. Ships of the Royal Navy in the harbour will fire a salute, and aircraft will circle overhead.

Terauchi will later be brought to Singapore and add his signature to the document.

Admiral Mountbatten originally planned to receive Terauchi's Samurai sword, and re-enact, with the roles reversed, the drama of Britain's surrender of 1942. This would have included a parade of Japanese generals through the city carryingl white flags, but the highest level authority ruled this out in favour of a "more dignified" ceremony.

The Japanese officers, in brass and braid, gathered preparatory to the surrender ceremony, are still showing a tendency to appear at their own convenience. Three lieutenant-generals who were expected to arrive last evening hadn't appeared at noon today, causing British concern over a possible injury to British dignity. Japanese labour parties, toiling under the hot sun, are preparing the surrender site.