My Dad, after fighting in France & Germany, was en route to the US to prepare for the invasion of Japan when news came of the surrender. The transport captain announced: "Japan has unconditionally surrendered, the war is over, we're going home!" It was the happiest day of his life he said (till I came along!)
@@SamlSchulze1104 You are right! He did. For him it was simple. He said the Depression and War are over and I have a job, a house, a car, a beautiful wife and a healthy son. Life is great!
Simon, you are absolutely killing it when it comes to your WWII Pacific theater videos. You and your writers not only present your viewers with a detailed history of important events but also an important context in which these events took place. This, in my opinion, is one of the aspects that separates you from the vast majority of those in your business. Along with your excellent delivery, of course.
This is a story I have known all my life. My father, who will be 100 next week is the last survivor of the 49th Fighter Group, 9th Fighter Squadron, P38 "surrender Betty" escort to Le Shima. Several days later he was one of 8 9th FS pilots to land at Atsugi airport to become the first tactical fighter unit, and occupying unit before the VJ Day surrender in Tokyo Bay.
Happy birthday to your father!!! I was recently walking a state park walking trail when I came across a centenarian WWII Pacific theater vet (in his scooter). Wish I’d been able to talk to him longer about his experience.
Thanks for sharing this story. Even though it's a while back now, I believe it's important for us to reminded of the emotions of those who fought for our freedoms. I can well imagine the huge relief he experienced at knowing he was going to survive the war and make it back home. Wonderful!!
Although I was a U.S. Marine when I was younger, I was never deployed to a war zone, and I never experienced being in battle and thus, never witnessed or experienced the horrors that come with war. I believe that going to war, being in battle, and experiencing the horrors of war first hand scars a person in ways that someone cannot really understand unless they have also experienced similar things themselves. I have a friend who was also a Marine and he was deployed to and served in Afghanistan. He was in multiple firefights and was never physically injured, but he never talked about it after he was discharged and came home and would avoid the subject. One day when he and I were alone I asked him if he would be willing to tell me what it was like to be in combat. I told him that I had read about it and that I knew combat was an awful thing to go through, but I had never been in it and I was respectful of him but curious. He got silent for a moment, not upset, but pondering, and then told me that since I was a fellow jarhead he was willing to tell me....once. And he did. In full detail. I won't repeat what he told me except to say he experienced the horrors of war and it scarred him for life. I now have a better understanding of why veterans who were in combat so frequently remain silent afterward. I honored our veterans before this happened. I honor them even more so now.
My grandfather was on one of the 5"/38's aboard the USS Alabama. He told me many stories over my childhood, some true, some obvious "Let's have some fun with the youngin". But I'll never forget the time he told me the story of entering Tokyo Bay for the surrender. You could tell that even fifty years later that was terrifying. Especially since he was on the first ship and their orders were to stand their ground in case of a trap so the fleet could get away. Kinda wild how many stories there are in war that no one ever hears about or reads in history books.
My father was wounded on Bougainville. He said that two mosquitoes would grab a GI and fly away with him. Now that I'm 62 I realize he was probably just funning me also.😊
@@David-wk6md G'day, Hmmmn, maybe. A Mosquito landed at Port Moresby Aerodrome once, and the Groundcrews tried to fill it with Avgas ; before realising it to be an Anopheles, rather than a DeHavilland... So the story goes...(!). Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !
I had a great uncle that was among the first troops to enter the concentration camps in Germany. From the stories told in the family, he wasn't ever the same and often went days without sleeping, that and Alcohol was his only friend. WWII has touched most people families.
your lucky... my grandfather avoided telling me anything, save for one afternoon where he spent 20 minutes telling me two stories, only after being prompted by my parents... odd don't you think...
Wonder if anyone who's related to someone that was actually in WW2 and has heard stories here find someone else who's got a relative that also happened to be in the same place same time and possibly know each other. It would be likely it seems from the stories read so far in the comments that it would be possible
Thanks for detailing all of these details. Very interesting video. Learning of all these "little" but vital to history event-details was quite captivating.
My father was on Okinawa preparing for the invasion of Kyushu while all this was going on. As a US Army Combat Engineer that had survived the cave fighting on Guam and Okinawa, you can only imagine his feelings when the surrender was announced. I was born on Tachikawa Air Force Base in Tokyo during the occupation. I went on to become a US Merchant Marine officer (Engineer) and spent a lot of time in Japan. There were a number of older Japanese survivors of the war that I got to know, including a Zero Pilot that was at Pearl Harbor and Midway. Some interesting conversations were had.
I visited Japan back in the 1970s and 1980s. At that time there were plenty of older Japanese who experienced the war and the surrender. The elder Japanese people I spoke to revered General MacArthur. They considered the 'Americans' to be the most compassionate and empathic conquerors they had ever experienced. Prior to this they only knew the historically traditional conquerors as violent, cruel and destructive (note the Mongol invasions, medieval Europe, any of the wars on any of the continents in the previous centuries). The Americans created a new 20th century model of a 'compassionate victor' and many of the Japanese folks really appreciated it. (sure the fanatics wouldn't give up but years of brainwashing that 'the white devils' would kill their families and destroy their homes, was hard to break. Only when presented with the civility of the US American commanders did they realize the truth. As a side point, there was still tons of resentment and racism in American society. Some wanted to kill ALL Japanese regardless, yet cooler heads prevailed. Genocide, even of an enemy that did terrible things, is NEVER a justified course of action. Our leaders were pretty wise and it takes a good history lesson to truly appreciate that fact.
Agreed, and we also payed for much of the rebuilding. Japan owes what it is today, as in the world's 3rd biggest economy, to the United States. Thank God we were able to keep Russia out of Japanese occupation. Imo Japan is literally where west meets east, Japan is easily the most westernized East Asian nation.
@@EddyA1337 Tons of Americans repeat the mantra that America built most of Japan's economy and infrastracture. Sure that happened but too many folks regard it like 'giving' buildings and technology to a primitive country. Japan was already an industrial and economic powerhouse, but it was destroyed by the war. It's not like Japan would NOT have achieved that if their industries and economy weren't destroyed by going to war with the USA. It's not like America TAUGHT them how to be successful. That's not true. They knew how. America just guided them into a better and more peaceful path. Also the USA spending tons of money rebuilding Japan was NOT completely altruistic. The USA desperately needed a MODERN and INDUSTRIALIZED ally in their fight against the communists in the KOREAN WAR. Japan was a forward base to the Americans operations in KOREA. If there wasn't a Korean war, America would NOT have so rapidly built of Japanese Factories and economy. They needed Japan to be their supply chain to the Far East.
That’s a load of baloney 😂😂we are talking about pre civil rights Americans occupying beaten down Japanese civilians The racism and humiliation was brutal for them not to forget the mass rapes of Japanese women and children swept under the rug This paint of the heroic white man lending a hand to the Japanese is garbage
I believe the saying is “wetting your whistle” I’m not quite sure where you’d place the noun “Simon” in that sentence without it turning absolutely filthy though.
Japan did not ignore any ultimatums or refuse to surrender. The issue was they wanted a conditional surrender and the Potsdam declaration was unconditional. On August 10th they responded that they would accept the Potsdam Declaration, but wanted to keep the Emperor in his position. The Allies accepted this with the understanding he would be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. As for the bombs, It took 3 day before confirmation of the 1st bomb even reached them due to their communications infrastructure was destroyed. It's likely they didn't even know about the second bomb, as it was dropped just 12 hours before the Emperor called the meeting with High Command. What they did know was on August 8th the Soviets refused their request to arbitrate a better surrender and instead informed Japanese Ambassador Sato they were declaring war. They were far more fearful of what would happen if the Soviets got there before the Americans. So why drop the bombs? The single most costly project in human history up to that point and they're not going to use it? Ask yourself why choose the targets they did? They had little military value, which is why they were pretty much clear of destruction. This made them perfect for damage assessment. They also wanted to make it clear to the world.....soviets cough cough, who had the biggest stick. History is written by the victors, this is as true for the US as any other nation.
Shut the hell with this 😂😂😂 Bruh you had Japanese Generals conspiring against the emperor to continue the war Stop the cap There is never one reason for anything
I don't buy that the Japanese would have caved in and surrendered simply because the Russians had declared war. There was still the unenviable prospect of having a land invasion on the main islands of Japan had they chosen not to surrender.
anyone find american speeches in ww2 ironic, you know considering the near genocidal and militaristic campaign against native americans to steal their land. like come on now, we know you arent any better than the japanese or germans, quit pretending
FYI the emperor wasn’t there on the ship. It was Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu who signed the surrender papers. They look similar but aren’t the same people. Sorry to rain on your uncles parade.
This was absolutely fascinating. After 17 years of reading 20th century history, especially WWII this was never mentioned in any books, movies, or documentaries about the war. Absolutely fascinating.
Throughout the years, I got to meet a lot of people Filipino and Japanese, at work. One Filipino older man was a child in the Philippines, and fought along side with his dad, against the Japanese . He had horrific stories about the Japanese that he'd seen as a child. But then I worked in housekeeping at a hotel, and our supervisor was Japanese. She was really rude, and really racist. Like it made me question every thought I had about race, listening to this lady talk about people of color. Anyway, she was a child during WWII, and she said the kids used to do morning exercises like a military unit, and practiced fighting with bamboo sticks every morning, and sang happy little kid songs about fighting for their country and committing suicide along with their brothers who were soldiers. She absolutely admitted that everyone was so fecked up in their thinking from all the centuries of Bushido ideals, that she was still working on what was normal thinking.
Not to terribly different today. The Japanese may well be the most racist people on 🌎. Stepbrother married a beautiful Japanese woman whose parents flew to the US to bring her back home, along with their daughter. He hasn't seen either of them in 2 decades.
Very interesting and pretty thorough article. However, the island is not named 'Le Shima' . It is Ie Shima, pronounced 'Eye eh She ma'. This is a small but important correction.
he spoke in a dialect of japanese used only by the imperial court, and as such it was very hard for most folks to understand. Imagine trying to understand british english from the 1700s.
My late grandfather served as an army air core machinist in the Pacific and I wish he had lived long enough to tell me about it. Sadly he had several strokes and die of a heart attack after my grandmother made and illegal left turn. My grandmother hated the Japanese until the day she died but my grandmother hated a lot of people so that doesn't mean much.
I love the emphasis on the fact that as they strode down the hard packed coral runway that every 20 feet there were extra tall MP’s! Especially chosen by Big Mac for their intimidation factor.
My father was aboard an Army troop ship in a convoy heading west across the north Pacific when they heard a PA announcement of the Japanese surrender and got redirected to Hawaii. I'm sure he was part of the Operation Downfall invasion force heading to a staging location (maybe Okinawa?). He finished his Army service in Hawaii.
My father’s tin can was heading to the Panama Canal when we nuked them. He knew they were heading to the battle group to support the invasion of the mainland.
Fucking incredible, to have played a part in such a consequential part of history, where the slightest detail of your decisions could mean life or death for millions of people 😮
Both the European and Japanese articles of surrender were signed with a Parker fountain pen. Europe, Eisenhower used Parker 51s made special for the job. The Japanese one was signed with a pen MacArthur refused to let the Japanese use, his wife's 1926 Duofold Junior he'd had sent to him for the purpose. There's at least one of the 51s still in a display that the French have. However, the Duofold Junior was later stolen from Macarthur's wife's hotel room and lost to history.
This is not entirely true. MacArthur signed the surrender document with five pens. He then handed one Pen to Gen. Johnathan Wainwright who’d been the highest ranking American POW since surrendering the Philippines and another to Gen Perceval the highest ranking British POW who had surrendered Singapore. The Wainwright pen is on display at the West Point Museum.
Now imagine how bad it would have been for Japan (and probably the whole Asian-Pacific region) if they would have had to surrender to Russia, instead...
@@RangerB66 I know it was the USSR at the time, but I said Russia for several reasons: 1. It was never a "union," just a Russian Empire with a new name and leadership; 2. He called it Russia in the video at least twice; 3. To trigger people who evidently didn't get enough sleep that they wake up in the morning with a shitty attitude. No nooky last night? Also, Jesus wasn't there at the time, and he wasn't invited now. 💩
Ye, just imagine the emperor and his nephew, one of the commanders during the r**e of nankin, plus all the class A war criminals being executed by the soviets, oh the tragedy. Instead they all got informal pardons by the US, a full on propaganda campaing world wide to clean their name and quite a few "medical" specialists went to have careers with the US goverment....
Phew! So many details. So much anxiety and tension. And I feel very deeptly for the men who had to order the bombers away to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (Nothing compared to what I've long felt for the umpteen thousand civitians who were subsequently and very violently killed.) And thanks, Simon. i nearly skipped it but perxevered. A big important chunk of history I had never before learned in any detail. This one was *Intense*! But an odd quirk I have a personal connection to the Surrenders, and to Bourganville Island. Here in Brisbane there is an historic ship now permanently in dry-dock: HMAS Diamantina. The ship upon which three of the pacific Theatre Surrenders were signed. I hav stood upon the very deck where the signings took place. I felt immense reverence for the moment, and respect for all who went to war and struggled so mightily against the Japanese threat. Yeah: the invaders were batshit-crazy. Jammed full of propaganda and some very dark quirks of J-culture. (Which I largely admire, and study. Want to get there one day.) But let's leave that aside from my story. The other corner of my micro-connection is via an airfield on the west side of Bourganville Island. Captured from the Japanese, it became the centre of a lot of aircraft action in 1944~45. My own father (a New Zelander) was stationed there, and had trained in American-made Corsairs. They sent him out to shoot Japanese, but he shot 3 Australians instead. He never spoke of it. I only found out after requesting his Airforce records. I feel for the families of the 3 Aussie men who took a bullet that day. War totally sucks.
It wasn't the Soviet Union's invasion which triggered surrender, but rather the fact that the Soviet Union clearly would not act as an intermediary with the Western Allies for peace (as requested by Japan). This intervention by the Soviet Union as a referee for peace was seen as a last straw by the Japanese Government to avoid surrender. Their invasion of Manchuria slammed the door on that last hope.
3:22 "they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth". They already were...every major city, except Hiroshima, had been firebombed...Hiroshima was left untouched to be able to truly judge the effect that the bomb would have. The first major firebombing raid on Tokyo destroyed as much of the city as the A bomb raid. The Tokyo raid also killed more civilians as Little Boy did.
I remember watching a documentary on the History Channel that was about Hirohito making a vinyls record of his nation's surrender. Knowing that he would be a little tied up, while dealing with that whole coup d'etat thing. He instructed his butler to play the recording. I met someone at Brockport University whose great-grandfather was the witness that signed the official surrender document with Hirohito and MacArthur.
America being a compassionate victor lead to Japan being what it is today: a cultural hub, 3rd biggest economy in the world, technological hub, a great nation.
I think with some hair gel in your beard you could streak it to resemble Max Headroom. That would make the many abrupt cuts (attributable in part to the vast amount of material you had to traverse) feel at least "on brand" ...oh and I loved the quote about occupying the Philippines. That's pro-level management of hecklers.
Wow, blimey Simon, you're speaking at double the speed you normally speak at. We're you in a hurry to get home lol 😅 You were going so fast that you didn't realise you described the tall servicemen twice 😅 Thanks for the information, it's very interesting, even if I had to pause/rewind to fully understand what you were saying 🎉
Great video, and I’m grateful for your coverage of the circumstances that led to Japan’s surrender. It’s an interesting logic atomic bomb apologists use: “they wouldn’t have surrendered no matter the casualties inflicted, so we had to inflict enough casualties to make them surrender”.
@j0njn What are your thoughts on the matter of the use of nuclear weapons in Japan? Mine are this ... there were 3 basic choices to take to force Japan to surrender and all 3 were bloody, especially for the Japanese. 1 ... Continue the campaign of unrestricted bombing of all population centers using firebomb raids and nukes as they became available to pound the infrastructure and food distribution systems flat 2 ... Total blockade of the Japanese home islands. Submarine warfare against the Japanese merchant marine was only a start. If it floated be it warship or fishing smack it gets sunk. Used in conjunction with the bombing campaign 3 ... Operation Downfall. The Soviets would get into it to grab as much of Manchuria, Korea and the Northern Islands as possible Casualties on both sides would have continued to be steep, especially for the Japanese civilians until the Army (which more or less ran the government) either decided to give up or was pulled down from the inside. It was thought at the time that "The Bomb" would overawe the government and force their surrender. The people on our side did not understand how the Japanese government was working at the time and how much control the Imperial Army exercised. The Bushido Code as practiced by the Army would not permit surrender. The Army would have to be pulled down from power and only the Emperor had any chance of countering it. He almost wasn't able to.
@@robertf3479 If the idea was to demonstrate the power of the new weapon, it could be done without using it on the civilian population. And as explained in the video, the changes in the strategical situation and diplomatic overtures were the deciding factors, not the escalation of the terror-bombing campaign. I don’t consider the so-called “strategic bombing” in both theatres, which included deliberately targeting civilians, ethically or strategically justified, as it had no tangible benefits over a tactical bombing campaign with specific targets, apart from driving up the bodycount to sate bloodlust.
@@j0njn I guess you missed the part about how shocked the Emperor was over the destruction of his Empire by the bombing of the cities, and that inspiring him to sue for peace. Apologist that haven't fought these wars can make any fantasy claims they want about how the out come could have been achieved in a different way. Bombs were the tools we had to further our 'Diplomacy'. The Army leaders were not ready to surrender, and many notable staff people took their own lives rather than face the humiliation of loosing the war. This is not the same mindset we function under in our society, and even at this late date is hard to understand.
@@cdjhyoung I guess you missed my entire point. Not that I expect a serious discussion in an anonymous comments section. Or civility. Which is why I hardly ever check my notifications here these days.
@@j0njn Sounds like you’re a wanna be Field Marshall mated with a naive goody two shoes. All of the folks I know, and there’s a lot, who lived through Japanese occupation of Malaya, Singapore, Burma, Philippines, and much of China, were relieved and overjoyed that strategic bombing brought about Jap surrender without the need to invade Japan. Shameful anti-American propaganda over the last two generations has been used to blame the U.S. for not allowing an estimated near two million of our sons and daughters to fall as casualties of the poor innocent Japanese. These apologists for America’s success following Pearl Harbor are nothing but historical perverts. And I’m not anonymous.
Hearing about the high ranking Japanese officer being guarded by a Japanese American was very interesting to me. “Drinking Sake and swapping war stories into the night”. Oh, to be a fly who is fluent in Japanese on that wall.
I have an envelope postmarked 2 September 1945, Tokyo Bay. Letter sent to my grandmother by my grandfather. He was there, on board the USS Wilkes, the ship that gave up her flag for the second flagraising at Iwo Jima. The commanding Marine general wanted the first one as a souvenir.
Hey Simon, What I really want to see (IDK if this actually exists) film of the battleship Missouri sailing into that harbor along with the rest of the fleet from the Japanese peoples perspective, they must have been utterly demoralized to see all those ships coming into there home port! Could you imagine if the opposite happened and the Japanese fleet steamed into the San Francisco Bay under the Golden Gate Bridge one of America’s most iconic (if not the most) harbor entrances!
It wasn't only the fleet...large formations of aircraft, of all types flew over the ceremony. MacArthur insisted on having marines over 6 feet tall escort the Japanese envoys as an act of intimidation
12:35 I'm surprised that I'm the first person to notice that this scene about the general walking down the runway was accidentally duplicated and played twice. Your editor is slipping up Fact Boi.... They might have to take Danny's place in the basement for a few weeks so Danny can have a vacation. .... Nothing crazy, but they definitely need to be whipped into shape a tad bit.
To be clear, there's still not a great deal of consensus on what precisely triggered the Japanese decision to surrender. Historians have been arguing that one basically since the war ended. As Simon mentioned, the actual casualty count of the two atomic bombings was far less than the deaths the fire bombings had caused, so why would they make a huge difference? With regard to the threat of Soviet Invasion though, how would that be any worse overall than the one already being prepared by the US and other Allies? Sure, the Japanese had feared the Soviets (see their refusal to declare war despite Germany's demands), but by this point in the war, the US had killed far more Japanese than had died fighting the Soviets. On the flip side, a key point that was brought up when I was looking at the accounts of the atomic bombings was that these were done by (effectively) single bombers. The Japanese were used to running to shelters when they heard the massed bombing raids, but residents of Hiroshima scarcely noticed Enola Gay. The psychological effect of those single bombers causing so much destruction cannot be underestimated. Overall, I fall into the camp that argues that the combination of the atomic bombings and the threat of Soviet invasion led to the surrender - it is unlikely that either event by themselves would have done the trick.
Not the last time the US screwed up a metric conversion, with disastrous results. I recall one Mars lander crashed due to an error in converting a measurement from metric to US units.
How could Hirohito's broadcast announcing Japan's intent to surrender to the Allies possibly be the first time the Japanese people realized the war wasn't going well? When your major cities are being routinely firebombed back to the feudal era, I wouldn't expect your first thought to be "victory is near."
The one thing I still want them to explain is... That British thing where, to everyone else, living there, "Yeap, that's how it's done, and Bob's your Uncle". This guy named Bob must have a lot of nephews, and nieces. Yet nobody seems to know his last name, or if he's still living... ;)
I'll quote a okinawa veteran who said "I now knew I was dead no way would I survive an invasion of the Japanese mainland after what I had experienced in okinawa? Surely the view of any Marine life was gone..... but then came Hiroshima which gave the American marines the certainly that yes they would because they didn't have to go in on operation Downfall
I read a story where a B-17 landed in Japan after the former surrender….at the wrong base. Still full of armed slightly mad Japanese soldiers. Due to low fuel, when the crew figured this out, were unable to fly out. Apparently, this resulted in a slight stand off between the crew hiding in the plane, and the surrounding soldiers glaring and probably fiddling with their swards, bayonets, and guns to see the Americans squirm. Eventually a Japanese Officer tensely knocked on the aircraft door and offered his sward in former surrender. The Americans politely declined and waited in the plane till more Americans arrived. One can’t blame the shamed Japanese soldiers enjoying slightly seeing the Americans squirming and nervously peeking out windows. They would obey their Emperor. But the Emperor said nothing about making lost Americans Soldiers remember they were far from home. Probably would encourage good behavior during occupation.
You mentioned the atomic bombs. What about Russia entry into the war? You seemed to indicate the firebombing of Japan was at the same time as Potsdam. Potsdam was late July/early August. The fire bombings were March 1945. The X is not hard it Roxas - more of Ro-house. I live in Manila.
The decision to surrender. "Modern historians say... defeat by Soviet Forces in Manchuria + Russian invasion... " Nonsense. That piece of academic Soviet self-aggrandizing propaganda is STILL reverberating around the world. First question: Soviet invasion with what? The entire Russian war effort was focused on one battle: Eastern front. More or less in one dimension: land. So what amphibious forces did the Soviets have? NONE. It would have taken them years to build up the landing craft, long-range bombers, fighters that could project their power, Aircraft Carriers, troop ships, etc. The Americans certainly wouldn't lend them theirs! Yes, the Soviet declaration of war between the 2 atomic bombings did have an effect. The Soviets had Japan's back for the entire war... LITERALLY. The Soviet-Japanese non aggression pact meant that while Americans & Brits were dying on islands, ships and jungles to the south, the Soviets had Japan's back to the North and West. In fact, the Soviets IMPRISONED American airmen who made an emergency landing in the Soviet Union after bombing Japan (Doolittle raiders). Yes, that's right: the Soviets imprisoned AMERICAN airmen for attacking Japan!!! So, in the Japanese calculus, when the Soviets declared war, the Soviet wartime assistance was over. The Americans may even start bombing from airbases in and launching amphibious assaults from the Soviet Union! A 2-front war. But the bigger question for the Japanese was this: if Japan could keep the cost to the Americans & Brits for a land invasion very high, Japanese Militarists could sue for an armistice: where they keep themselves in power, keep Korea, but give back Taiwan, etc. and, like WWI in Europe, systematically violate the armistice like Germany did and restart the war a decade or two later on a strong footing. Yes, hundreds of B-29s were bombing Japanese cities, but the A-Bombs were different. 1 plane + 1 bomb = 1 Japanese city. No land invasion necessary: just the extermination of Japan from the air. In other words, the A-bombs reduced (in Japan's mind) the cost to the Americans of utterly defeating them. The Americans could utterly destroy Japan without a single boot on the ground and with minimal air crews. Result: Japan lost its leverage. And faced with extinction by the American A-bomb, or survival they chose survival. The bombs ended the war. Period.
The Hubble Telescope, for one, and that was a very expensive project being worked on by some of the smartest people on the planet! Come on, Americans, go metric, already!
Crazy how we allowed Hirohito to stay emperor and exported the worst war criminals to the US. It wasn’t unconditional. It was most definitely conditional.
OK I know Simon talks quickly but this episode feels like it's also been sped up in the edit to the point where it feels too fast to comfortably listen to. Having to watch on .75x speed, which is also awkward. Just let the videos be a bit longer, please!
It is unlikely that the Soviet Union joing the war against Japan played a *major role* in the decision of Japan to surrender. It was a factor, but not a major factor. Manchuria was not the Japanese main island(s). As it is Soviet Union grabbed islands north of Japan and Russian Federation refuses to return those islands. Conversly Stalin decided to give hard-won Manchuria to Mao and his followers.
Yes! The Soviet invasion and "betrayal" of the friendship treaty was just normal back stabbing. The fire bombings had been going on since March. But the atomic bombings were the revolutionary trigger the Emperor needed to order surrender, and what the military needed to accept his order.
That was the point he was making. Surrender to the US and become a democracy or risk becoming communist. The effectiveness of the atomic bomb was greatly exaggerated.
@@rezonancedesign6319 I'm a little unclear on one point. For years, the Americans had been begging the Soviets to enter the war against Japan by attacking in Manchuria, but the Soviets had refused, based upon their treaty with the Japanese. So, what caused the Soviets to change their mind? The timing certainly makes it looks like the Soviets thought the atomic bombs ended the war. To what do you attribute the change in the Soviet attitude wrt the Japanese?
@@rezonancedesign6319Stalin was better informed about the Atomic bombs than Truman. The invasion of Manchuria was scheduled only when he was aware the bombs had already been scheduled to be used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
My Dad, after fighting in France & Germany, was en route to the US to prepare for the invasion of Japan when news came of the surrender. The transport captain announced: "Japan has unconditionally surrendered, the war is over, we're going home!" It was the happiest day of his life he said (till I came along!)
Then he had a lifetime of happiness when you came along.
@SamlSchulze1104 what a legend for this sweet compliment. That dad life rules
Great Job ruining things (just a joke lol)
@@SamlSchulze1104 You are right! He did. For him it was simple. He said the Depression and War are over and I have a job, a house, a car, a beautiful wife and a healthy son. Life is great!
My father-in-law was in France waiting for orders to be deployed for Japan. Such a blessing that these veterans didn’t have to go there.
Simon, you are absolutely killing it when it comes to your WWII Pacific theater videos. You and your writers not only present your viewers with a detailed history of important events but also an important context in which these events took place. This, in my opinion, is one of the aspects that separates you from the vast majority of those in your business. Along with your excellent delivery, of course.
Ditto
"absolutely KILLING IT" - - - BUT AT 2:02, the word "deceived" is pronounced ------> DECIDED (wtf?)
I ditto that ditto
This is a story I have known all my life. My father, who will be 100 next week is the last survivor of the 49th Fighter Group, 9th Fighter Squadron, P38 "surrender Betty" escort to Le Shima. Several days later he was one of 8 9th FS pilots to land at Atsugi airport to become the first tactical fighter unit, and occupying unit before the VJ Day surrender in Tokyo Bay.
Amazing story !
*Ie Shima. A capital "i", not an "L". Pronounced "EE-yeh". It's Japanese, not French. Just in case anyone cares. If not, carry on!
Thank you for sharing this story and god bless your father for his service to our great country 🇺🇸
Happy birthday to your father!!!
I was recently walking a state park walking trail when I came across a centenarian WWII Pacific theater vet (in his scooter). Wish I’d been able to talk to him longer about his experience.
Thanks for sharing this story. Even though it's a while back now, I believe it's important for us to reminded of the emotions of those who fought for our freedoms. I can well imagine the huge relief he experienced at knowing he was going to survive the war and make it back home. Wonderful!!
Although I was a U.S. Marine when I was younger, I was never deployed to a war zone, and I never experienced being in battle and thus, never witnessed or experienced the horrors that come with war.
I believe that going to war, being in battle, and experiencing the horrors of war first hand scars a person in ways that someone cannot really understand unless they have also experienced similar things themselves. I have a friend who was also a Marine and he was deployed to and served in Afghanistan. He was in multiple firefights and was never physically injured, but he never talked about it after he was discharged and came home and would avoid the subject. One day when he and I were alone I asked him if he would be willing to tell me what it was like to be in combat. I told him that I had read about it and that I knew combat was an awful thing to go through, but I had never been in it and I was respectful of him but curious. He got silent for a moment, not upset, but pondering, and then told me that since I was a fellow jarhead he was willing to tell me....once. And he did. In full detail. I won't repeat what he told me except to say he experienced the horrors of war and it scarred him for life. I now have a better understanding of why veterans who were in combat so frequently remain silent afterward. I honored our veterans before this happened. I honor them even more so now.
Bravo Zulu marine.
My grandfather was on one of the 5"/38's aboard the USS Alabama. He told me many stories over my childhood, some true, some obvious "Let's have some fun with the youngin". But I'll never forget the time he told me the story of entering Tokyo Bay for the surrender. You could tell that even fifty years later that was terrifying. Especially since he was on the first ship and their orders were to stand their ground in case of a trap so the fleet could get away.
Kinda wild how many stories there are in war that no one ever hears about or reads in history books.
My father was wounded on Bougainville.
He said that two mosquitoes would grab a GI and fly away with him.
Now that I'm 62 I realize he was probably just funning me also.😊
@@David-wk6md
G'day,
Hmmmn, maybe.
A Mosquito landed at Port Moresby Aerodrome once, and the Groundcrews tried to fill it with Avgas ; before realising it to be an Anopheles, rather than a DeHavilland...
So the story goes...(!).
Such is life,
Have a good one...
Stay safe.
;-p
Ciao !
I had a great uncle that was among the first troops to enter the concentration camps in Germany. From the stories told in the family, he wasn't ever the same and often went days without sleeping, that and Alcohol was his only friend.
WWII has touched most people families.
your lucky... my grandfather avoided telling me anything, save for one afternoon where he spent 20 minutes telling me two stories, only after being prompted by my parents... odd don't you think...
Wonder if anyone who's related to someone that was actually in WW2 and has heard stories here find someone else who's got a relative that also happened to be in the same place same time and possibly know each other. It would be likely it seems from the stories read so far in the comments that it would be possible
Thanks for detailing all of these details. Very interesting video. Learning of all these "little" but vital to history event-details was quite captivating.
Thanks for the detailed explanation of this historic event.
My father was on Okinawa preparing for the invasion of Kyushu while all this was going on. As a US Army Combat Engineer that had survived the cave fighting on Guam and Okinawa, you can only imagine his feelings when the surrender was announced.
I was born on Tachikawa Air Force Base in Tokyo during the occupation. I went on to become a US Merchant Marine officer (Engineer) and spent a lot of time in Japan. There were a number of older Japanese survivors of the war that I got to know, including a Zero Pilot that was at Pearl Harbor and Midway. Some interesting conversations were had.
Just when I have lost all hope in humanity, I learn about this brilliant life saving diplomacy. I am astonished.
I visited Japan back in the 1970s and 1980s. At that time there were plenty of older Japanese who experienced the war and the surrender. The elder Japanese people I spoke to revered General MacArthur. They considered the 'Americans' to be the most compassionate and empathic conquerors they had ever experienced. Prior to this they only knew the historically traditional conquerors as violent, cruel and destructive (note the Mongol invasions, medieval Europe, any of the wars on any of the continents in the previous centuries). The Americans created a new 20th century model of a 'compassionate victor' and many of the Japanese folks really appreciated it. (sure the fanatics wouldn't give up but years of brainwashing that 'the white devils' would kill their families and destroy their homes, was hard to break. Only when presented with the civility of the US American commanders did they realize the truth. As a side point, there was still tons of resentment and racism in American society. Some wanted to kill ALL Japanese regardless, yet cooler heads prevailed. Genocide, even of an enemy that did terrible things, is NEVER a justified course of action. Our leaders were pretty wise and it takes a good history lesson to truly appreciate that fact.
Agreed, and we also payed for much of the rebuilding. Japan owes what it is today, as in the world's 3rd biggest economy, to the United States. Thank God we were able to keep Russia out of Japanese occupation. Imo Japan is literally where west meets east, Japan is easily the most westernized East Asian nation.
General MacArthur didn't want to repeat what the allies did to Germany at the end of WWI, that caused WWII.
@@EddyA1337 Tons of Americans repeat the mantra that America built most of Japan's economy and infrastracture. Sure that happened but too many folks regard it like 'giving' buildings and technology to a primitive country. Japan was already an industrial and economic powerhouse, but it was destroyed by the war. It's not like Japan would NOT have achieved that if their industries and economy weren't destroyed by going to war with the USA. It's not like America TAUGHT them how to be successful. That's not true. They knew how. America just guided them into a better and more peaceful path. Also the USA spending tons of money rebuilding Japan was NOT completely altruistic. The USA desperately needed a MODERN and INDUSTRIALIZED ally in their fight against the communists in the KOREAN WAR. Japan was a forward base to the Americans operations in KOREA. If there wasn't a Korean war, America would NOT have so rapidly built of Japanese Factories and economy. They needed Japan to be their supply chain to the Far East.
Indeed.
That’s a load of baloney 😂😂we are talking about pre civil rights Americans occupying beaten down Japanese civilians
The racism and humiliation was brutal for them not to forget the mass rapes of Japanese women and children swept under the rug
This paint of the heroic white man lending a hand to the Japanese is garbage
Simon whistling our brains with knowledge yet again.
He said it's whistling time" and whistled all over our brains. One of the videos of all time
I believe the saying is “wetting your whistle” I’m not quite sure where you’d place the noun “Simon” in that sentence without it turning absolutely filthy though.
Valuable information, Simon! Many thanks for this video. 😊
12:36 repeats at 12:50.
👍🏻
Yes....
Deja Vu
Very interesting with the details of the lead up to the surrender I never knew, and suspect many people did not know either!
This might be your best work yet.
good stuff, many thanks
My dad was one of the first US Army soldiers to go into Hiroshima after the end of the war. 25th Infantry. He was shocked by the destruction.
Japan did not ignore any ultimatums or refuse to surrender. The issue was they wanted a conditional surrender and the Potsdam declaration was unconditional. On August 10th they responded that they would accept the Potsdam Declaration, but wanted to keep the Emperor in his position. The Allies accepted this with the understanding he would be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. As for the bombs, It took 3 day before confirmation of the 1st bomb even reached them due to their communications infrastructure was destroyed. It's likely they didn't even know about the second bomb, as it was dropped just 12 hours before the Emperor called the meeting with High Command. What they did know was on August 8th the Soviets refused their request to arbitrate a better surrender and instead informed Japanese Ambassador Sato they were declaring war. They were far more fearful of what would happen if the Soviets got there before the Americans.
So why drop the bombs? The single most costly project in human history up to that point and they're not going to use it? Ask yourself why choose the targets they did? They had little military value, which is why they were pretty much clear of destruction. This made them perfect for damage assessment. They also wanted to make it clear to the world.....soviets cough cough, who had the biggest stick. History is written by the victors, this is as true for the US as any other nation.
even the official reason given had nothing to do with ending the war or even japan, it was outright stated to be a weapons demonstration
Shut the hell with this 😂😂😂
Bruh you had Japanese Generals conspiring against the emperor to continue the war
Stop the cap
There is never one reason for anything
I don't buy that the Japanese would have caved in and surrendered simply because the Russians had declared war. There was still the unenviable prospect of having a land invasion on the main islands of Japan had they chosen not to surrender.
My uncle was on that ship! Standing right behind the emperor
Was he sad that Japan was surrendering?
Why ?
@@dustintacohands1107 he was surrendering to the US.
anyone find american speeches in ww2 ironic, you know considering the near genocidal and militaristic campaign against native americans to steal their land. like come on now, we know you arent any better than the japanese or germans, quit pretending
FYI the emperor wasn’t there on the ship. It was Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu who signed the surrender papers. They look similar but aren’t the same people. Sorry to rain on your uncles parade.
What a great episode
My parents lived through WWII. My grandmother bought a pair of porcelain figurines stamped "made in occupied Japan" and passed them down to me.
This was absolutely fascinating. After 17 years of reading 20th century history, especially WWII this was never mentioned in any books, movies, or documentaries about the war. Absolutely fascinating.
Great history lesson, I was not aware of all the arrangements that were necessary prior to the formal Japanese surrender.
Throughout the years, I got to meet a lot of people Filipino and Japanese, at work. One Filipino older man was a child in the Philippines, and fought along side with his dad, against the Japanese . He had horrific stories about the Japanese that he'd seen as a child. But then I worked in housekeeping at a hotel, and our supervisor was Japanese. She was really rude, and really racist. Like it made me question every thought I had about race, listening to this lady talk about people of color. Anyway, she was a child during WWII, and she said the kids used to do morning exercises like a military unit, and practiced fighting with bamboo sticks every morning, and sang happy little kid songs about fighting for their country and committing suicide along with their brothers who were soldiers. She absolutely admitted that everyone was so fecked up in their thinking from all the centuries of Bushido ideals, that she was still working on what was normal thinking.
Not to terribly different today. The Japanese may well be the most racist people on 🌎.
Stepbrother married a beautiful Japanese woman whose parents flew to the US to bring her back home, along with their daughter. He hasn't seen either of them in 2 decades.
Very interesting and pretty thorough article. However, the island is not named 'Le Shima' . It is Ie Shima, pronounced 'Eye eh She ma'. This is a small but important correction.
Curse those sans serif fonts
I hate san-serif fonts. It is capital I, lower case e, so it is ee ā Shima, actually probably ee ā ji ma. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ie_Shima_Airfield
Good spot, John. That one had me MASSIVELY puzzled. (watashi wa chotto nihonga dekimasu)
Imagine hearing you god like emperor's voice for the very first time just to hear that the county was surrendering.
“There’s only one god.. And he doesn’t dress like that.”
he spoke in a dialect of japanese used only by the imperial court, and as such it was very hard for most folks to understand. Imagine trying to understand british english from the 1700s.
Great video
Thanks Simon. That meeting and circumstances were totally unknown to me.
My late grandfather served as an army air core machinist in the Pacific and I wish he had lived long enough to tell me about it. Sadly he had several strokes and die of a heart attack after my grandmother made and illegal left turn. My grandmother hated the Japanese until the day she died but my grandmother hated a lot of people so that doesn't mean much.
I love the emphasis on the fact that as they strode down the hard packed coral runway that every 20 feet there were extra tall MP’s!
Especially chosen by Big Mac for their intimidation factor.
Great video! You seem to repeat yourself around the 13:00 mark, must be a editing error.
Love this channel❤❤❤❤
My father was aboard an Army troop ship in a convoy heading west across the north Pacific when they heard a PA announcement of the Japanese surrender and got redirected to Hawaii. I'm sure he was part of the Operation Downfall invasion force heading to a staging location (maybe Okinawa?). He finished his Army service in Hawaii.
My father’s tin can was heading to the Panama Canal when we nuked them. He knew they were heading to the battle group to support the invasion of the mainland.
My father was crew aboard an LST, bound for Japan when war ended.
Fucking incredible, to have played a part in such a consequential part of history, where the slightest detail of your decisions could mean life or death for millions of people 😮
Man you are the shit! Information is such a vital resource!
Both the European and Japanese articles of surrender were signed with a Parker fountain pen. Europe, Eisenhower used Parker 51s made special for the job.
The Japanese one was signed with a pen MacArthur refused to let the Japanese use, his wife's 1926 Duofold Junior he'd had sent to him for the purpose.
There's at least one of the 51s still in a display that the French have. However, the Duofold Junior was later stolen from Macarthur's wife's hotel room and lost to history.
This is not entirely true.
MacArthur signed the surrender document with five pens. He then handed one Pen to Gen. Johnathan Wainwright who’d been the highest ranking American POW since surrendering the Philippines and another to Gen Perceval the highest ranking British POW who had surrendered Singapore.
The Wainwright pen is on display at the West Point Museum.
@@AugerIn 5 were used, but MacArthur used his wife's Duofold Junior. Refused to use the same as the Japanese used.
Now imagine how bad it would have been for Japan (and probably the whole Asian-Pacific region) if they would have had to surrender to Russia, instead...
They surrendered to the Allied Powers. The USSR occupied the Kuril Islands.
It wasn't Russia, it was the Soviet Union.
For Christ's sake get it right.
@@RangerB66 I know it was the USSR at the time, but I said Russia for several reasons: 1. It was never a "union," just a Russian Empire with a new name and leadership; 2. He called it Russia in the video at least twice; 3. To trigger people who evidently didn't get enough sleep that they wake up in the morning with a shitty attitude. No nooky last night?
Also, Jesus wasn't there at the time, and he wasn't invited now. 💩
Ye, just imagine the emperor and his nephew, one of the commanders during the r**e of nankin, plus all the class A war criminals being executed by the soviets, oh the tragedy. Instead they all got informal pardons by the US, a full on propaganda campaing world wide to clean their name and quite a few "medical" specialists went to have careers with the US goverment....
"I hope we can fill each of our days to the brim with positive energy. We thought the world had stopped, but it continues to move forward"
😊
🙏🏻
This is really detailed, more than American school history teaches as well at Japanese schools
What did they teach about the Bataan Death March in Japan?
Truth will out.
@@poolboy1690
117 today in Scottsdale
The sun's not up and I already have my mask snorkel and flippers in hand.
Phew! So many details. So much anxiety and tension. And I feel very deeptly for the men who had to order the bombers away to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (Nothing compared to what I've long felt for the umpteen thousand civitians who were subsequently and very violently killed.)
And thanks, Simon. i nearly skipped it but perxevered. A big important chunk of history I had never before learned in any detail.
This one was *Intense*!
But an odd quirk I have a personal connection to the Surrenders, and to Bourganville Island.
Here in Brisbane there is an historic ship now permanently in dry-dock: HMAS Diamantina. The ship upon which three of the pacific Theatre Surrenders were signed. I hav stood upon the very deck where the signings took place. I felt immense reverence for the moment, and respect for all who went to war and struggled so mightily against the Japanese threat. Yeah: the invaders were batshit-crazy. Jammed full of propaganda and some very dark quirks of J-culture. (Which I largely admire, and study. Want to get there one day.) But let's leave that aside from my story.
The other corner of my micro-connection is via an airfield on the west side of Bourganville Island. Captured from the Japanese, it became the centre of a lot of aircraft action in 1944~45. My own father (a New Zelander) was stationed there, and had trained in American-made Corsairs.
They sent him out to shoot Japanese, but he shot 3 Australians instead.
He never spoke of it. I only found out after requesting his Airforce records. I feel for the families of the 3 Aussie men who took a bullet that day. War totally sucks.
Maccarthurs handling of the surrender and occupation were nothing short of masterful.
I never knew about any of this. This needs to be a movie, the stakes are astronomical and there were too many near disasters.
It wasn't the Soviet Union's invasion which triggered surrender, but rather the fact that the Soviet Union clearly would not act as an intermediary with the Western Allies for peace (as requested by Japan). This intervention by the Soviet Union as a referee for peace was seen as a last straw by the Japanese Government to avoid surrender. Their invasion of Manchuria slammed the door on that last hope.
3:22 "they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth". They already were...every major city, except Hiroshima, had been firebombed...Hiroshima was left untouched to be able to truly judge the effect that the bomb would have. The first major firebombing raid on Tokyo destroyed as much of the city as the A bomb raid. The Tokyo raid also killed more civilians as Little Boy did.
I remember watching a documentary on the History Channel that was about Hirohito making a vinyls record of his nation's surrender. Knowing that he would be a little tied up, while dealing with that whole coup d'etat thing. He instructed his butler to play the recording. I met someone at Brockport University whose great-grandfather was the witness that signed the official surrender document with Hirohito and MacArthur.
America being a compassionate victor lead to Japan being what it is today: a cultural hub, 3rd biggest economy in the world, technological hub, a great nation.
And no diversity ..they are so lucky
While Japan is a fantastic place to visit, it's not as advanced as it appears to be
@@richardbradley2335and a giant population decline. How’s that working out for them?
@@rationallyruby They hand over houses to young couples for nothing...in my dump white people cant even afford to rent.
I think with some hair gel in your beard you could streak it to resemble Max Headroom. That would make the many abrupt cuts (attributable in part to the vast amount of material you had to traverse) feel at least "on brand"
...oh and I loved the quote about occupying the Philippines. That's pro-level management of hecklers.
Bro you have so many channels lol epic!!
The absolute best account I've ever heard 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Well done.
17:10 Lolol...
I'll bet they were the most willing volunteers their general had ever seen...
Wow, blimey Simon, you're speaking at double the speed you normally speak at. We're you in a hurry to get home lol 😅
You were going so fast that you didn't realise you described the tall servicemen twice 😅 Thanks for the information, it's very interesting, even if I had to pause/rewind to fully understand what you were saying 🎉
That’s the editors fault sweetie not his! Lol there’s a way to slow it down too! I listen at everything 2x speed. But you can slow it down.
Great video, and I’m grateful for your coverage of the circumstances that led to Japan’s surrender.
It’s an interesting logic atomic bomb apologists use: “they wouldn’t have surrendered no matter the casualties inflicted, so we had to inflict enough casualties to make them surrender”.
@j0njn What are your thoughts on the matter of the use of nuclear weapons in Japan?
Mine are this ... there were 3 basic choices to take to force Japan to surrender and all 3 were bloody, especially for the Japanese.
1 ... Continue the campaign of unrestricted bombing of all population centers using firebomb raids and nukes as they became available to pound the infrastructure and food distribution systems flat
2 ... Total blockade of the Japanese home islands. Submarine warfare against the Japanese merchant marine was only a start. If it floated be it warship or fishing smack it gets sunk. Used in conjunction with the bombing campaign
3 ... Operation Downfall. The Soviets would get into it to grab as much of Manchuria, Korea and the Northern Islands as possible
Casualties on both sides would have continued to be steep, especially for the Japanese civilians until the Army (which more or less ran the government) either decided to give up or was pulled down from the inside. It was thought at the time that "The Bomb" would overawe the government and force their surrender. The people on our side did not understand how the Japanese government was working at the time and how much control the Imperial Army exercised. The Bushido Code as practiced by the Army would not permit surrender. The Army would have to be pulled down from power and only the Emperor had any chance of countering it. He almost wasn't able to.
@@robertf3479 If the idea was to demonstrate the power of the new weapon, it could be done without using it on the civilian population. And as explained in the video, the changes in the strategical situation and diplomatic overtures were the deciding factors, not the escalation of the terror-bombing campaign. I don’t consider the so-called “strategic bombing” in both theatres, which included deliberately targeting civilians, ethically or strategically justified, as it had no tangible benefits over a tactical bombing campaign with specific targets, apart from driving up the bodycount to sate bloodlust.
@@j0njn I guess you missed the part about how shocked the Emperor was over the destruction of his Empire by the bombing of the cities, and that inspiring him to sue for peace. Apologist that haven't fought these wars can make any fantasy claims they want about how the out come could have been achieved in a different way. Bombs were the tools we had to further our 'Diplomacy'. The Army leaders were not ready to surrender, and many notable staff people took their own lives rather than face the humiliation of loosing the war. This is not the same mindset we function under in our society, and even at this late date is hard to understand.
@@cdjhyoung I guess you missed my entire point. Not that I expect a serious discussion in an anonymous comments section. Or civility. Which is why I hardly ever check my notifications here these days.
@@j0njn Sounds like you’re a wanna be Field Marshall mated with a naive goody two shoes. All of the folks I know, and there’s a lot, who lived through Japanese occupation of Malaya, Singapore, Burma, Philippines, and much of China, were relieved and overjoyed that strategic bombing brought about Jap surrender without the need to invade Japan. Shameful anti-American propaganda over the last two generations has been used to blame the U.S. for not allowing an estimated near two million of our sons and daughters to fall as casualties of the poor innocent Japanese. These apologists for America’s success following Pearl Harbor are nothing but historical perverts. And I’m not anonymous.
Hearing about the high ranking Japanese officer being guarded by a Japanese American was very interesting to me. “Drinking Sake and swapping war stories into the night”. Oh, to be a fly who is fluent in Japanese on that wall.
I have an envelope postmarked 2 September 1945, Tokyo Bay. Letter sent to my grandmother by my grandfather. He was there, on board the USS Wilkes, the ship that gave up her flag for the second flagraising at Iwo Jima. The commanding Marine general wanted the first one as a souvenir.
@20:46, and let us hope it remains the deadliest conflict in modern history. We do not need more deadly conflicts.
"Irresponsible militarism should be driven from the world" boy that aged poorly
You'd need to be more specific really.
😂👍
0:20 the deadliest conflict in HUMAN history.
Can you share your sources? Would love to learn more!
Hey Simon,
What I really want to see (IDK if this actually exists) film of the battleship Missouri sailing into that harbor along with the rest of the fleet from the Japanese peoples perspective, they must have been utterly demoralized to see all those ships coming into there home port! Could you imagine if the opposite happened and the Japanese fleet steamed into the San Francisco Bay under the Golden Gate Bridge one of America’s most iconic (if not the most) harbor entrances!
It wasn't only the fleet...large formations of aircraft, of all types flew over the ceremony.
MacArthur insisted on having marines over 6 feet tall escort the Japanese envoys as an act of intimidation
That was an interesting video. The only thing that was bad is the fact that the staff of Unit 731 escaped a war crimes trial.
The person in charge of the airplane that had to ditch was not a pilot.
How much fuel onboard is A pilots responsibility.
😊
You would think he'd look at the distance to travel, the fuel gauge and stick his hand up, wouldn't you. at the very least. :S
@@joppadoni
Yes
Put a dipstick in every tank.
Interesting I always wondered how the details were worked out prior to the official surrender on the USS Missouri!
My father was aboard the same or similar ship under same circumstances.
Good episode Simon, did you finally start paying for scripts?
12:35
I'm surprised that I'm the first person to notice that this scene about the general walking down the runway was accidentally duplicated and played twice.
Your editor is slipping up Fact Boi.... They might have to take Danny's place in the basement for a few weeks so Danny can have a vacation.
.... Nothing crazy, but they definitely need to be whipped into shape a tad bit.
I just noticed this too. I thought there was a glitch in my brain
I'm glad that the allies showed mercy and kindness even after all the suffering Japan had inflicted.
Pfft for all the horrors those monsters inflicted many got away with it.
Japan deserved to be punished harsher.
@CyBerCat6410 I'd say the 2 nukes as well as threat from the soviets was an eye opener
@CyBerCat6410 But I do agree that the way Unit 731 was able to get away with and even live peaceful lives afterwards is infuriating
Very detailed and accurate, but; it's EE-Shima, not LE-Shima.
The Potsdam declaration sounds so ironic in light of what many (if not all) of the Allies did during and after the war...
To be clear, there's still not a great deal of consensus on what precisely triggered the Japanese decision to surrender. Historians have been arguing that one basically since the war ended. As Simon mentioned, the actual casualty count of the two atomic bombings was far less than the deaths the fire bombings had caused, so why would they make a huge difference? With regard to the threat of Soviet Invasion though, how would that be any worse overall than the one already being prepared by the US and other Allies? Sure, the Japanese had feared the Soviets (see their refusal to declare war despite Germany's demands), but by this point in the war, the US had killed far more Japanese than had died fighting the Soviets. On the flip side, a key point that was brought up when I was looking at the accounts of the atomic bombings was that these were done by (effectively) single bombers. The Japanese were used to running to shelters when they heard the massed bombing raids, but residents of Hiroshima scarcely noticed Enola Gay. The psychological effect of those single bombers causing so much destruction cannot be underestimated. Overall, I fall into the camp that argues that the combination of the atomic bombings and the threat of Soviet invasion led to the surrender - it is unlikely that either event by themselves would have done the trick.
12:45
I thought I’d had a mini stroke, but no just a small glitch haha
Of course one is left to wonder if the mistake in fuelling the plane was "accidental."
What happened to the Amish video? It's suddenly private
My great great uncle was William Halsey.
Not the last time the US screwed up a metric conversion, with disastrous results. I recall one Mars lander crashed due to an error in converting a measurement from metric to US units.
Saying "on September the second, nineteen forty-five, hundreds of servicemen" intelligibly in under 2 seconds is pretty impressive.
How could Hirohito's broadcast announcing Japan's intent to surrender to the Allies possibly be the first time the Japanese people realized the war wasn't going well? When your major cities are being routinely firebombed back to the feudal era, I wouldn't expect your first thought to be "victory is near."
Propaganda is strong
The one thing I still want them to explain is... That British thing where, to everyone else, living there, "Yeap, that's how it's done, and Bob's your Uncle". This guy named Bob must have a lot of nephews, and nieces. Yet nobody seems to know his last name, or if he's still living... ;)
there's a glitch in the matris at 12:37
I'll quote a okinawa veteran who said "I now knew I was dead no way would I survive an invasion of the Japanese mainland after what I had experienced in okinawa? Surely the view of any Marine life was gone..... but then came Hiroshima which gave the American marines the certainly that yes they would because they didn't have to go in on operation Downfall
12:36
12:48
😂
I had to rewatch 😅
Pretty sure it's Ie Shima ('i', stupid sans serif font) not Le Shima.
It's really irritating when Simon mentions another previous video and the producers don't provide a link to it in the description or in a card
*Future video ideas ......kozyrev mirror* 👍
Amazing that by August, 1945, we didn't know that there was no Japanese Air Force. Both the Army and Navy had air forces.
Is that a machete on your desk?
Yes, so click that thumbs up if you want more videos with Si in em! 🤣🤣 ( I hear he is very in to method presenting )
Ie Shema is the location where writer and war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed by a Japanese machine gun.
What happened to your amish paradise video? It was on my menu but says it's private
I read a story where a B-17 landed in Japan after the former surrender….at the wrong base.
Still full of armed slightly mad Japanese soldiers.
Due to low fuel, when the crew figured this out, were unable to fly out.
Apparently, this resulted in a slight stand off between the crew hiding in the plane, and the surrounding soldiers glaring and probably fiddling with their swards, bayonets, and guns to see the Americans squirm.
Eventually a Japanese Officer tensely knocked on the aircraft door and offered his sward in former surrender.
The Americans politely declined and waited in the plane till more Americans arrived.
One can’t blame the shamed Japanese soldiers enjoying slightly seeing the Americans squirming and nervously peeking out windows.
They would obey their Emperor.
But the Emperor said nothing about making lost Americans Soldiers remember they were far from home. Probably would encourage good behavior during occupation.
Always enjoy Simon’s videos, but wonder why they always have that annoying, just barely audible music playing underneath every single video they make
You mentioned the atomic bombs. What about Russia entry into the war? You seemed to indicate the firebombing of Japan was at the same time as Potsdam. Potsdam was late July/early August. The fire bombings were March 1945. The X is not hard it Roxas - more of Ro-house. I live in Manila.
The decision to surrender. "Modern historians say... defeat by Soviet Forces in Manchuria + Russian invasion... " Nonsense. That piece of academic Soviet self-aggrandizing propaganda is STILL reverberating around the world. First question: Soviet invasion with what? The entire Russian war effort was focused on one battle: Eastern front. More or less in one dimension: land. So what amphibious forces did the Soviets have? NONE. It would have taken them years to build up the landing craft, long-range bombers, fighters that could project their power, Aircraft Carriers, troop ships, etc. The Americans certainly wouldn't lend them theirs! Yes, the Soviet declaration of war between the 2 atomic bombings did have an effect. The Soviets had Japan's back for the entire war... LITERALLY. The Soviet-Japanese non aggression pact meant that while Americans & Brits were dying on islands, ships and jungles to the south, the Soviets had Japan's back to the North and West. In fact, the Soviets IMPRISONED American airmen who made an emergency landing in the Soviet Union after bombing Japan (Doolittle raiders). Yes, that's right: the Soviets imprisoned AMERICAN airmen for attacking Japan!!! So, in the Japanese calculus, when the Soviets declared war, the Soviet wartime assistance was over. The Americans may even start bombing from airbases in and launching amphibious assaults from the Soviet Union! A 2-front war. But the bigger question for the Japanese was this: if Japan could keep the cost to the Americans & Brits for a land invasion very high, Japanese Militarists could sue for an armistice: where they keep themselves in power, keep Korea, but give back Taiwan, etc. and, like WWI in Europe, systematically violate the armistice like Germany did and restart the war a decade or two later on a strong footing. Yes, hundreds of B-29s were bombing Japanese cities, but the A-Bombs were different. 1 plane + 1 bomb = 1 Japanese city. No land invasion necessary: just the extermination of Japan from the air. In other words, the A-bombs reduced (in Japan's mind) the cost to the Americans of utterly defeating them. The Americans could utterly destroy Japan without a single boot on the ground and with minimal air crews. Result: Japan lost its leverage. And faced with extinction by the American A-bomb, or survival they chose survival. The bombs ended the war. Period.
12:37 there’s a glitch in the matrix. 😂😂😂
How many times has unit conversion been the cause of major incidents?
The Hubble Telescope, for one, and that was a very expensive project being worked on by some of the smartest people on the planet! Come on, Americans, go metric, already!
Crazy how we allowed Hirohito to stay emperor and exported the worst war criminals to the US.
It wasn’t unconditional. It was most definitely conditional.
OK I know Simon talks quickly but this episode feels like it's also been sped up in the edit to the point where it feels too fast to comfortably listen to. Having to watch on .75x speed, which is also awkward. Just let the videos be a bit longer, please!
Wild... I watch most of my videos at 2x speed and I wish I had 3x...
I hope future surrenders could go as well as this one did. Similar peace terms?
That first letter in Ie Shima is a capital i, not a lowercase L. Japan doesn't name its islands in French.
Damn Simon, slow down! 😅
It is unlikely that the Soviet Union joing the war against Japan played a *major role* in the decision
of Japan to surrender. It was a factor, but not a major factor. Manchuria was not the Japanese main
island(s).
As it is Soviet Union grabbed islands north of Japan and Russian Federation refuses to return those islands.
Conversly Stalin decided to give hard-won Manchuria to Mao and his followers.
Yes! The Soviet invasion and "betrayal" of the friendship treaty was just normal back stabbing. The fire bombings had been going on since March. But the atomic bombings were the revolutionary trigger the Emperor needed to order surrender, and what the military needed to accept his order.
That was the point he was making. Surrender to the US and become a democracy or risk becoming communist.
The effectiveness of the atomic bomb was greatly exaggerated.
@@rezonancedesign6319 I'm a little unclear on one point. For years, the Americans had been begging the Soviets to enter the war against Japan by attacking in Manchuria, but the Soviets had refused, based upon their treaty with the Japanese. So, what caused the Soviets to change their mind? The timing certainly makes it looks like the Soviets thought the atomic bombs ended the war. To what do you attribute the change in the Soviet attitude wrt the Japanese?
@@rezonancedesign6319Stalin was better informed about the Atomic bombs than Truman.
The invasion of Manchuria was scheduled only when he was aware the bombs had already been scheduled to be used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
@@jonathanguthrie9368 Germany surrendering?