WORLD WAR II
ENDS IN THE PACIFIC

Ie Shima is an oval shaped island, five miles long, located to the West of Okinawa in the Ryukyu's Chain of islands just South of Japan. The island is flat except for an extinct volcano near the center which rises to a height of 600 feet. A little known moment in World War II history took place at the close of the war in the Pacific on Ie Shima.

The war in Europe was over but there was clearly a grim determination on the part of the Japanese people to defend their homeland and preserve the deity of their Emperor, Hirohito. On August 6, 1945, the B-29 Enola Gay dropped the Atom Bomb on the city of Hiroshima, base of the 2nd Japanese Army. The emperor was told that more such bombs would be dropped unless the Potsdam Declaration, demanding unconditional surrender of all the Japanese armed forces, was accepted. After receiving no reply, an atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki.

On August 10, a message was sent to the American, Soviet and British governments. The Japanese Government was ready to accept the Potsdam Declaration "with the understanding that the said declaration does not comprise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as Sovereign Ruler."

At noon on August 15, a personal proclamation from the Emperor was broadcast. This was the first time that any Japanese emperor had ever spoken to his subjects. The night before the broadcast there had been an unsuccessful attempt by rebellious elements of the Imperial Guard Division in Tokyo to seize the recorded message and prevent its broadcast.

Once the Japanese had agreed to sign the Instrument of Surrender that would finally end WWII, there remained difficulties with communication, distance, language, and so forth. Therefore, it took several days for the actual fighting to wind down following the Japanese decision to surrender. Great caution was used to ensure the safety of those empowered by the Japanese Emperor to make any arrangements the Allies directed to enable the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers to set up the formal surrender. It was later learned that Captain Yasuna Ozono, who commanded the 302 Kokutai (naval air corps) stationed near Tokyo, committed hara-kiri the night prior to the departure of the Japanese delegation because his officers did not fully support him in his pledge to destroy the transport planes. Another threat to the envoys still existed from Japan's Tokko Tai (air attack units) who were threatening to shoot down the Japanese emissaries, thus preventing Japan's surrender.

The Allies knew that the bombing of Pearl Harbor had left a legacy of fear of the Japanese and a distrust of their sincerity. There was the perception that the Allies had to avoid any chance of another sneak attack even this late in the war. And so, the little island of Ie Shima became a place of strategic importance. MacArthur ordered that the Japanese delegation travel in clearly marked planes to a secret destination where the delegation would be transferred to American planes for the remainder of the trip to Manila.

On General MacArthur's orders, the Japanese planes were painted white and large green crosses replaced the emblem of the rising sun. These crosses symbolized that rather than being on a hostile mission, the planes carried 16 representatives of the Japanese Government sent to Manila by Emperor Hirohito to assist Allied forces with the surrender and occupation of Japan. The Mitsubishi Navy Type 1 land attack bombers, which had the Allied nickname of "Betty", were given specific flight coordinates to follow. One of the Japanese planes was a G4M1-L2 transport and the second plane was a standard G4M1 bomber hastily field-modified to help transport the Japanese delegation. One of the Bettys had bullet holes from some earlier encounter with American fighters. Eight members of the Japanese delegation flew in each plane to meet with General Douglas MacArthur's Chief of Staff, Lt. General Richard K. Sutherland, Jr. in Manila.

On August 19 the delegates boarded the planes for their unknown destination. When they were in the air, the pilots opened sealed orders to discover that their destination was Ie Shima, the island where Ernie Pyle had died four months earlier. The Japanese bombers were given specific flight coordinates and were to be escorted by American fighter planes. As the two planes moved into Allied airspace, their aircraft was instructed to use the identifying call signs of Bataan 1 and Bataan 2. As a result of Japanese sadistic cruelty during the Bataan death march, many Allied soldiers had suffered and died. There was a satisfying symbolism in having the Japanese use these call signs; however, the Japanese delegation was not aware of the irony the Allies recognized in their choice of identifying call signs for these planes.

Twelve American Lockheed P-38 Lightnings escorted the Bettys to Ie Shima on August 19^th and then from Ie Shima to Tokyo on the return trip. The twelve escorts are variously accredited to the 8^th and to the 49^th Fighter Group, which had more confirmed air victories than any other group in the Far East. When the Allied planes first approached the planes carrying the Japanese delegation, the Japanese planes radioed the password, Bataan. The reassuring reply was, "We are Bataan's watchdog. Follow us." The twelve fighters flew around, above, and below. They did acrobatics, diving past the slow two-engined Bettys. The high spirited acrobatics of the escorts did not detract from their determination to protect the Japanese envoys so that the threat from the kamikazes was over. Top cover for the Bettys was provided by B-25s from the 345^th Bomb Group. Six planes, in flights of two, had been sent to find and escort the Japanese to Ie Shima. Majors Jack McClure and Wendall Decker piloted the pair of planes which first located the Bettys. McClure took the lead and Decker closed the formation as they led the delegation to a landing on Ie Shima

The American plane piloted by Major McClure landed ahead of the Japanese bomber to lead them to Birch Airstrip. MacArthur ordered that the landing area be identified by two white crosses prominently displayed in the center of the runway. The first bomber landed smoothly. But seeing the waiting Americans, the second pilot forgot to lower his landing flaps, causing a higher sink rate than expected. The plane bounced over the runway to land jarringly on the coral.

General Kawabe was on the second plane to land and it parked immediately behind the first. He was the first to leave the plane and his officers followed by rank. Having unloaded from the Japanese bomber with all their luggage, the Japanese delegation prepared to be received by the American delegation before reloading on an American transport plane, a C-54, which was responsible for transporting them to Manila.

The American delegation waited on the tarmac. Fifty years later, one soldier remembers, "the first Jap off had on short pants." The pilots exited from the forward hatch of the Japanese bombers while the delegates exited by rank.

Japanese emissaries walked to the waiting Americans. They were formally received by the American delegation. No salutes or any form of greetings were exchanges. General Kawabe presented his credentials to the senior American officer.

With peace so close, everything possible was being done to avoid a disaster that might restart hostilities. In spite of security on Ie Shima during this exercise, which was described by those present as being tighter than it would have been to protect the American president, many Americans crowded the area with cameras.

The envoys, accompanied by the American delegation, then boarded the American C-54 to continue on to Manila in the Philippines.

The head of the Japanese delegation was the first to load onto the C-54 in preparation for leaving for the Philippines. In all, the landing, receiving of the delegation, and loading for transporting to the Philippines took approximately 20 minutes.

The commanding officer of the 507th Fighter Group arranged for one of his men, a former photographer for LIFE magazine, to be present and photograph the historic moment when the Japanese came to Ie Shima to be transported in American planes on to the Philippines. Each member of 507th Fighter Group received a copy of these pictures.

As the delegation was being flown to Manila, the Allies showed them great courtesy and consideration. The Japanese were served American boxed lunches with pineapple juice and coffee. And there was plenty of sugar for the coffee. Since sugar had been scarce in Japan for many years, having sugar for the coffee was unexpected and a very reassuring indication of the treatment they would receive from those with whom they would be negotiating. The Japanese politely offered the Americans Japanese cigarettes and tips of American money but both the cigarettes and money were politely refused. Upon arrival in Manila, the emissaries were taken to Rosario Manor where the Allies had arranged another pleasant surprise. The Japanese were delighted to discover that a turkey dinner was prepared and ready for them when they arrived. Because of the acute food shortage in Japan, many of the delegation had not eaten meat for years. In addition to the meal, cans of hard candies were available to the Japanese envoys.

After they had eaten, the Japanese were taken to a conference room in city hall. Japanese and American officials sat of opposite sides of the table. Specialists in such areas as supply, power facilities, and engineering sat facing each other. In the negotiations which followed, the Japanese were surprised at the fairness with which the Americans handled the many problems which arose. This was not at all the manner in which they expected to be treated. The Japanese and the Americans specialists worked through the night of August 19^th and into the early morning hours of the 20^th. And the translators worked all night to put MacArthur's requirements into accurate Japanese. It was very, very important that all documents be correctly translated so that there would be no misunderstandings.

When the conference on Manila was over, the Japanese were preparing to leave. It had been so long since the envoys had had any sweets that several asked if they could take some of the hard candies with them back to Japan. In response, the Americans gave all of the delegates fresh cans of candy for the journey on August 20.

19 hours after the Japanese arrived on Manila, they boarded the C-54 at Nichols Field and returned to Ie Shima having made a good beginning toward disengagement. On Ie Shima, the delegation was informed that one of the Bettys had mechanical problems and could not be repaired until the following morning. Several of the delegates suspected sabotage. But Otake, one of the translators with the delegation had been educated in the United States and he quickly ridiculed that possibility. He pointed out that the plane was the one which had a rough landing on Ie Shima when they first arrived.

All of the envoys could not be transported in the one remaining Betty; therefore, the group and documents were divided so that if one plane were to be lost, the other would carry the conference documents to Tokyo. Kawabe asked for volunteers to remain with the Betty until it could be repaired. Late in the afternoon, the first of the two converted Bettys left for Tokyo with General Kawabe and seven other delegates on board. It was almost midnight when the sleeping delegates were awakened by the pilot who ordered them to prepare for a crash landing. A fuel tank had sprung a leak and they were heading for the nearest land. Everyone was instructed to put on life jackets in case the plane failed to make landfall.

Their greatest concern was for the safety of the documents; therefore, they were entrusted to a delegate, Okazaki, who had represented Japan in the 1924 Olympics. Soon the engines ran low on gas and began missing and the plane lost altitude. The bomber roughly skipped along the sea until it hit something and suddenly came to a stop. The pilots stumbled from their cockpit. One pilot checked on the passengers while the other moved to open the rear door. As he did, water gushed into the plane. The pilot stepped out and instead of disappearing under the sea, the water reached only to his knees. Amazingly, the pilots had landed the Betty in the surf along a beach near Hamamatsu. They were still 130 miles from Tokyo but there were no fatalities and the precious documents were safe.

A fisherman showed the soldiers to a phone and they called Hamamatsu Air Base for help. By seven that morning of August 21, Kawabe and the other delegates left Hamamatsu for Tokyo with the surrender documents. Later that same morning, the envoys who had remained on Ie Shima left on their repaired aircraft. These delegates had an uneventful trip.

President Truman wanted the formal surrender of the Japanese to take place as close to the capital of Japan as possible to emphasize the full extent of Japanese capitulation. Therefore, the ceremony took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. The battleship U.S.S. Missouri was named for President Truman's home state and had been christened in 1944 by his daughter, Margaret. The color guard raised the Stars and Stripes up the mainmast aboard the U.S.S. Missouri -- the same flag that had been flying above the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on December 7, 1941. Nearby, a second American flag, a tattered one with only 34 stars, was mounted on a bulkhead. It was the flag that Commodore Matthew Perry had flown aboard his flagship, the Powhatan, when he entered Tokyo Bay in 1854 to open Japan to the West.

After the Japanese envoys, Mamoru Shigemitsu, representing the Emperor and the government, and Yoshijiro Umezu, representing the Imperial Armed Forces, signed the surrender documents, MacArthur signed accepting the Japanese surrender "for the United States, Republic of China, United Kingdom, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the interests of the other United Nations at war with Japan."

Although of great historical interest, neither of the two white-painted Betty bombers that transported the Japanese delegation survives. One plane arrived safely in Tokyo. After leaving Ie Shima for Tokyo, the other Betty crash landed in the surf of a beach near Hamamatsu, about 130 miles from its destination. That plane submerged and was not salvaged. The other Betty went to Kisarazu Air Base and was later intentionally destroyed by fire.

Last updated January 28, 2003
For Further Information Contact: Bill Reynolds kb4ar@earthlink.net

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