Japanese envoys sign a preliminary treaty at Government House, Rangoon, Burma.

Interior footage with live sound in the hall at Government House. Lieutenant-General Frederick Browning, Chief of Staff to Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command, addresses the Japanese envoys and explains the nature of this preliminary arrangement. The agreement is placed before Lieutenant-General Takazo Numata, Chief of Staff to Field Marshal Count Terauchi, Supreme Commander Japanese Expeditionary Forces Southern Region. Terauchi's Deputy Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Kaigye Chudo, watches as Numata signs the various copies of the agreement and stamps his personal seal on them. A third Japanese officer looks straight ahead. The papers are transferred to Browning's desk for his signature. Panning shots along the table showing the various Allied delegates representing Britain, Australia, the USA, China, France, and the Netherlands. General Browning addressing the assembled members of the press; though still recorded with live sound his words are not clear.

Notes

As Numata signs the agreement the image jumps twice, presumably as the cameraman rotates the lens turret of his Eyemo camera to get close-ups.

Historical context: The Japanese government surrendered unconditionally on 15 August and formally surrendered on 2 September 1945, these being the 'Tokyo terms' that Browning refers to in his opening address.

The agreement signed here was a preliminary step ordering local Japanese commanders to obey the instructions of Allied occupation forces. This facilitated the Recovery of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees, a process known as RAPWI. It also required the Japanese to keep order in the territories they occupied, to remove minefields or other obstacles, to allow Allied reconnaissance flights and so on.

Before becoming Chief of Staff to Lord Mountbatten, Browning (a fully qualified glider pilot) had been an influential figure in the birth of British airborne operations, having raised the 1st Airborne Division in 1941.

A variety of other coverage of this occasion is available, shot by both RAF (ABY-series) and British Army (JFU-series) cameramen.