Memorandum for Admiral Leahy1

#5-217 Memorandum for Admiral Leahy1 August 23, 1945 [Washington, D.C.] Secret

The following is a brief summary of our information of the situation in the Pacific: PARAMACHIRO [Paramushiro]:2 Surrender has begun. TOKYO: Arrangements for compliance with surrender terms are completed. Compliance continues throughout Japan. MANCHURIA: Surrenders continue. According to last information 254,000 or 39% of total Japanese forces in the region exclusive of puppet troops,3 are in the hands of the Russians. Japanese broadcast of 21 August reports Soviet attacks north of Kalgan and southwest of Jehol taking place. The Soviets landed airborne forces in Dairen and Port Arthur on the 21st and began disarming Japanese garrisons on that date. CHINA: Surrender terms delivered and negotiations are continuing. In general the Japanese have agreed to surrender to Central Government forces. The 116th Division in the Paoching area had not received the Emperor’s rescript on the 16th. On 21 August Wedemeyer stated Japanese had opened rifle and mortar fire on the 16th at Shanhsien. Another cable of same date states that groups of officers of two Japanese divisions in the area had met Chinese officers to arrange surrender negotiations, one meeting on 13 August and another scheduled for 16 August. LUZON: The pocket in northern Luzon mountains will formally surrender 28 August according to plans made after the conference between Japanese and U. S. officers. CELEBES: Japanese have stated they will surrender. MILLE:4 Japanese have surrendered to U. S. Naval forces. SAIGON: Emissaries have departed for Japan and have requested change in schedule due to weather delays. BURMA-MALAYSIA: Minor hostilities continue but negotiations between Japanese emissaries and Mountbatten are under way. A complication has arisen out of Mountbatten’s desire to continue with a planned landing at Penang5 on the 28th and from there sweep on down the Straits to Singapore. The British Chiefs of Staff have directed him to conform in all respects to General MacArthur’s orders.

Document Copy Text Source: George C. Marshall Papers, Pentagon Office Collection, Selected Materials, George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia. Document Format: Typed memorandum.

1. This memorandum was also sent to Secretary of State James F. Byrnes.

2. One of the most northern of the Kurile Islands, Paramushiro was a Japanese naval and air base.

3. These were Chinese troops serving under Japanese command or authority.

4. One of the bypassed atolls in the eastern Marshall Islands, Mille (along with Wotje, Jaluit, and Maloelap) was a Japanese air base.

5. An island at the northern end of the Straits of Malacca, Penang was one of the Malay states.

Recommended Citation: The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, ed. Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens (Lexington, Va.: The George C. Marshall Foundation, 1981– ). Electronic version based on The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 5, “The Finest Soldier,” January 1, 1945–January 7, 1947 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), pp. 286–287.