US General Douglas MacArthur arrives at Atsugi Airbase after the end of the war as preparations for the occupation begin. (Courtesy of Truman Library)
On this 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War, I introduce the third in a series from Lieutenant General Robert L Eichelberger's diary. In his own words, Eichelberger takes us from the day Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration to the surrender ceremony, two and a half weeks later. In that time, he launched the Allied Powers' postwar occupation of the country.
In the final installment, I introduce Eichelberger's account of his arrival at Atsugi Aerodrome on August 28. The latter story is well known. However, this may be the first time to quote directly from the diaries of the man in charge of the forward element and forces of the Occupation of Japan.
Last of three parts
Follow the series, General Eichelberger's Diary
August 30, 1945 (Thursday) Arrival in Japan
…The entire command group arose early and after arriving at Kadena strip at 0615 took off at 0700 for Atsugi airstrip. After one of the smoothest air trips I have ever had, we flew in over the Japanese coast and landed at Atsugi at 1200 where we were met at the plane by General [Joseph May] Swing.
It immediately developed that two things would be critical. The transportation situation was particularly bad and although the Japanese had provided more than the number of vehicles requested none of them were in good working order. GHQ [General Headquarters of the Supreme Command for the Allied Powers, or SCAP] true to form and promptly grabbed off all the desirable pieces of equipment leaving very little for the latecomers. Whatever GHQ did not grab, FEAF did!
August 30, 1945 (Arrival of General MacArthur)
I learned at once that the arrangements for the reception of General MacArthur were to say the least incomplete. Communication had not been maintained…and when I inspected the area where General MacArthur's plane was to land, I found practically nothing had been done there. This inspection was made in the company of General Swing who then took over upon my orders and prepared to receive SCAP.
When SCAP arrived at 1500 the 11th Airborne band and an honor guard were drawn up, as were a small regiment of correspondents, and photographers, among whom Domei [official news media of the Empire of Japan] representatives were prominent. General MacArthur arrived at 1500 to the minute followed three minutes later by General [George C] Kenney and six minutes later by General [Carl] Spaatz. The latter two received a minimum of attention which may or may not have been accidental…
General MacArthur's first statement as he walked out of the plane was, "How are you, Bob?" He then greeted [my Chief of Staff, Brigadier General] Clovis [E Byers] and General Swing and made a brief statement to the press in which he professed satisfaction at the attitude shown by the Japanese in adhering to the agreement. He stated he felt that there would be no unpleasant incident to mar the established truce.
He and I then entered the sedan and drove to Yokohama preceded and followed by four truckloads of General Swing's infantry. A quick tour around the city was made and we finally arrived at the Grand Hotel where we were billeted for the night.
August 30, 1945 (Yokohama Feather Merchants)
By nightfall the operation had progressed as designed, the perimeter was established although no report had been received from the 4th Marines. A radio [message] was consequently sent to General [William T] Clement instructing him to report to me at 1000 tomorrow morning....
The New Grand Hotel was filling up rapidly and the most alarming feature was an ever-growing mass of feather merchants who had no part to play and no concern with the operation other than personal curiosity. These served to fill up the available hotel space to the point whereby late in the evening it had become a subject of considerable discussion, with the result that the Eighth Army was requested to make its rooms available for representatives coming in for the surrender ceremony.
On hearing this I went out with a Japanese government representative and inspected and selected a house in the suburban area into which it was decided to move the following day. After dinner at the hotel I retired quite early.
August 31, 1945 (Friday)
In the morning I attended a conference with staff members and had a brief interview with General MacArthur during which he indicated that it is his desire not only to move to Tokyo as soon as possible but to have Mrs MacArthur and little Arthur come up to live with him here. This would bear out the statement made by Mr [Sergio] Osmeña in Manila that he thought General MacArthur would no longer desire to live in the Philippines.
The movement of Generals Byers and [Frank S] Bowen [Jr, of the G-3 Operations Division] and myself was completed by mid-afternoon and dinner was eaten at the new house.
General Clement arrived at 1000 and a brief conference was held with him. The Marines, it developed, landed additional naval personnel for which they had a perfect out in the Operations Instructions which provided for additional troops "if required."
Had lunch at the [hotel] and went to the house early in the afternoon where I took a siesta. During the day several difficulties came to a critical point. Eighth Army was required to leave the Grand Hotel and GHQ reaffirmed its acquisitive characteristic by trying to grab off every bit of office space in sight. The transportation problem also had to be fixed and late in the day General [Harold E] Eastwood [in charge of supply and resources] called a conference at which it was decided that all Japanese vehicles would be impounded and confined in a central pool…The impounding was to start at midnight and did so, although it was not very effective.
August 31, 1945 (Extending the Perimeter)
Orders were received and the perimeter extended to the north at the request of the air corps who desire to take over four additional strips in the area west of Tokyo.
Arrangements were also made to send the reconnaissance troop of the 11th Airborne Division to…the Tateyama area…
September 1, 1945 (Saturday)
I left the house at 0800 and arrived at the Customs Building at 0815 where I conferred with [radio broadcaster and war correspondent John] Howard Pyle for a few moments and then broadcast a personal interview with him asking the questions. The broadcast was made to San Francisco and Mrs [Emma] Eichelberger had been notified in advance that the program was going through. She will also be sent a recording of the broadcast.
The broadcast went very well. At its completion I left with General Bowen for the Yokosuka naval base. Marine MP [Military Police] picked us up about two miles outside the naval base and we arrived to be greeted by an honor guard. [US Marine Corps] General Clement and Admiral [Oscar C.] Badger, commanding Task Force 31, received me at naval base headquarters. A short time was spent examining air photos of the area and we then went on a tour of the base itself.
September 1, 1945 (Yokosuka Naval Base)
A large number of midget submarines were there and these were inspected with much interest…I inspected the flagship of Admiral [Heihachiro] Togo during the Russo-Japanese war. This ship has been beached and established as a training vessel.
After this a short trip was taken around the area and at 1200 we went aboard the USS San Diego where we had lunch with Admiral Badger. Following lunch the machine shops of the naval base, the big dry dock and many of the small work shops were inspected.
We happened to arrive at one jetty just as a Japanese [ship] was being moored. It had been surrendered early in the morning and had a small navy prize crew and one officer aboard…This was probably the most interesting thing seen all day, for the entire personnel of the captured vessel were on the deck and had just come to the shocking realization that they were in the hands of their American conquerors...
September 2, 1945 (Sunday)
I was up at 0530 this morning and we took a destroyer out to the Missouri, arriving there about 0800. There were foreigners of all nationalities — Russians, Chinese, French, Aussies, English, etc — and I had a chance to talk to them all.
We were lined up according to diagram and my place was on the front row of the army section between Generals [Courtney] Hodges and [Robert] Richardson and about five paces from the nearest Japanese. There were hundreds of newsmen and photographers and the ceremony was extremely im-pressive.
General MacArthur had [prisoner of war survivors] General [Jonathan M] Wainwright and General [Arthur E] Percival (Singapore) stand with him as he signed. Just after the ceremony hundreds of our planes flew over the Missouri, including about 600 B-29ss.
Dress was informal and I wore my tropical worsteds without tie, as did General MacArthur. Neither did he wear his ribbons. The Japanese premier was decked out in tails, striped trousers, top hat and gloves and was attended by two other civilians and some top military men…
After lunch I returned to Yokohama by destroyer bringing with me the flag which flew on the Missouri during the ceremony. This I shall present to SCAP. It was also flown at Potsdam during the conference there....
The 1st Cavalry Division began landing today…XI Corps is also beginning to land. The weather continues bad and the airborne landings are proceeding very slowly.....
Author's Postscript
In this way, the occupation of Japan would begin and continue for the next six and a half years, a length probably no one would accurately predict in the beginning.
Eichelberger would step down as commanding general of the Eighth Army and depart Japan on August 4, 1948. He published his memoirs of World War II, Our Jungle Road to Tokyo, two years later in 1950 after serialization in the Saturday Evening Post. He passed away in 1961 from post-surgery complications.
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Reviewed by: Robert D Eldridge, PhD
Dr Eldridge is a former political advisor to the US Marine Corps in Japan and author of numerous books on Japanese political and diplomatic history.
