Japanese General Heitaro Kimura and senior staff officers surrender their swords at the headquarters of Twelfth Army at Judson College in Rangoon, Burma.

Wide shot showing Japanese officers being escorted onto a parade ground outside the headquarters of Twelfth Army; a guard of honour is formed up and other troops crowd around as spectators. The Japanese officers are shown to their places which are marked by chalk circles. Allied officers take their places followed by General Sir Montagu Stopford, Twelfth Army commander. The guard of honour presents arms for the General Salute. Allied officers step forward and Japanese officers unhitch their swords. The four outermost officers step forward, under escort, and present their swords. Closer shot (longer lens) of Lieutenant-General Sakurai, commander of Japanese 28th Army, surrendering his sword to Brigadier J D Shapland, Brigadier Royal Artillery at Twelfth Army. Kimura presents his sword to Brigadier Armstrong, who then presents it to General Stopford. Wider shot; the officer (Armstrong?) takes back the sword and returns to his place. An officer marches onto the parade ground and the guard of honour slopes arms. The Japanese officers salute and march away. Allied officers leave the ground.

Notes

To the British the surrender of swords was considered a vital part of the demilitarisation of Japan. Hoping to avoid a parallel to the end of the First World War, where the German Army marched home with its arms and plausibly 'undefeated', it was hoped that the formal surrender of swords would make the reality of defeat incontestable.

In his memoirs, published in 1956, General Slim (commander of 14th Army which reconquered Burma) refers to General Kimura's sword as 'now on my mantelpiece, where I always intended one day it should be'.

This ceremony was covered by a number of other cameramen and in stills held by the IWM Photograph Archive. See related items.