80th Anniversary of Japan’s Surrender in Andaman Islands

S. BALAKRISHNAN

S. BALAKRISHNAN

2^nd September 2025 marked a historical remembrance event in world history; 80 years ago it was on this day the 2^nd September 1945 that Japan formally surrendered, thereby officially ending World War-II. A phase of this Japanese surrender happened on Indian soil also, thereby ending 3 ½ years of Japanese occupation of that territory. That part of India, for that matter the only part of India which was under Japanese rule was the Andaman & Nicobar Island Territory.

The Japanese forces captured Port Blair, the capital of A&N Islands that was part of the British colonial India, in the early hours of 23^rd March 1942 without firing a single shot. The British administration had earlier deserted the islands knowing well that it was simply impossible to defend the remote island territory, because many South East Asian countries had already fallen to the Japanese forces. For the next 3 ½ years the abandoned people of the A&N Islands suffered untold miseries under the Japanese rule. Even though Netaji visited the Islands and even set up the Provisional Government of India (PGI), it was only an eye-wash by the Japanese. But that is a different and long story.

(Netaji at a party hosted by the Japanese in Port Blair)

Coming to the surrender and end of Japanese occupation of the Islands, the news of Japan’s surrender reached the islands the very same day of 15^th August 1945 itself. The British re-occupation forces, however, arrived only on 7^th October 1945 and the islands changed hands once again without firing a single bullet. The British continued to rule the islands as before while negotiations were on for an independent India. In February 1946, the British appointed Mr. Inamul Majid as Chief Commissioner of the Islands, the first Indian to hold such a post. He continued to be the Chief Commissioner for some years even after Indian independence on August 15, 1947.

Baldheads & Popcorn

The British operation to reoccupy the Islands was codenamed ‘Popcorn’ and the pre-occupational counter-intelligence activities were codenamed Baldheads. Major Denis McCarthy (who had previously been Superintendent of Police in the Andamans and had widely toured the islands to deal with the hostile activities of the aborigine Jarawa people) was commissioned to do the “Baldhead” operations in Andamans. McCarthy, along with a party of five, whom all had also served in the Andamans, successfully carried out ‘Baldhead I to V’ by setting up their base in Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

As per the commands of Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Supreme Allied Commander of South-East Asia Command, who took over the administration of the Islands on September 23 1945, Brigadier A.J. Solomon commanded the 116^th Indian Infantry Brigade and landed in Port Blair on October 7 1945 to disarm the Japanese units and reoccupy the Island Territory. The landing troops took position at strategic places. Brigadier Solomon accepted the surrender of Japanese in the Islands in an informal way on the very same day of landing itself. Well, it was high time the bloody red sun descended and the ‘Popcorn’ popped up!  

Meerankutti (who worked then as Warden in Cellular Jail and whom I interviewed in 1979) recollected that one night as he was going towards Cellular Jail for his night shift duty of warden there, he saw bright lights and buzzing activities in the Japanese camp situated little ahead of the Jail. In the days to follow, he said, planes dropped notices announcing dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. The notices further read that Japan was sure to be defeated. “But I neither dared to retain the notice nor open my mouth about it to anybody”, said Meerankutti, submerged in the fear-struck memories of those times. Sometime in the end of September 1945 came a large ship that stood beside Ross Island, he continued. The Japanese drove a speedboat towards it and brought back two white men; one among them, he remembered, had served as Chief Conservator of Forests during British times. The Japanese were asked to handover a list of population. Later, each civilian was handed over a sack with two tins - one of rice and the other of various food stuffs. Clothing was also provided. Some people suffered of dysentery because they drank a good quantity of milk(powder) that was distributed by the British, because they had not even seen milk all those 3 ½ years, added Meerankutti with a dry grin.

The formal ceremony of handing over of the A&N Islands by the Japanese to the British took place at about 10.45 A.M. on October 09 1945 at the tennis court of Andaman Club, beside Gymkhana Grounds in Port Blair. A big table was laid on the court and some chairs were also arranged. The Japanese were brought to the site in cars. “What a difference in the way of treating prisoners of war (POW) between the Japanese and the British!” exclaimed Meerankutti. “How meanly the Japanese had treated the British Chief Commissioner and other white men, and how gently they, in turn, were treated by the British!” he wondered. The Japanese were conducted to the table and Brig. A.J. Solomon, Commander of the 116^th Indian Infantry Brigade, after inspecting the guard of honour, read out the Instrument of Surrender. It was signed on behalf of Japan by the Japanese Naval Commander stationed in the Islands, Vice-Admiral Toiso Hara, and the Army Commander, Major-General Tamenori Sato, and on behalf of the British Government by Brigadier A.J. Solomon. The Japanese Commanders who had come there in full uniform surrendered their swords, stripped themselves of all their badges and decorations, saluted and marched off towards the vehicle with bowed heads. As the crowd that had gathered there to witness the momentous ceremony booed loudly, the car carrying the Japanese Commanders drove off. “The whole ceremony lasted hardly for three to five minutes”, said Meerankutti.

Well before the surrender of Japanese in the international scene, it was decided by the British, as early as in November 1944 itself, that after reoccupation the Islands should initially be governed by military only and that civil administration could be restored after things settled down. In the meantime, a mercy ship arrived at Port Blair on Sept. 26 1945 carrying supplies for the civilians and the POWs. It was further decided on October 6 1945 that “Japanese forces in Malaya, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Sumatra were to be collected on Rempang Island in the Rhio Archipelago at the eastern end of Strait of Malacca…”

Repatriation of Japanese troops:

The Japanese troops were instructed to move out of the town. Camps were arranged for them at Garacharma and Phargaon, two villages some 10 and 6 kms away respectively from Port Blair. All their arms had been surrendered to the British. They numbered some 18,846 (some 20,000 had landed on March 23 1942). The Japanese POWs were deployed in manual civil works like road laying, painting, white washing, etc. They were taken from their camps by the British in the morning and returned only in the late evening. As they were not sufficiently fed, they grew tapioca and sweet-potato around their camps. The civilians now had the chance to repay the Japanese in their own coin. The Japanese men were beaten up and mocked at; burnt with cigarette butts and even spat upon. They bore them all without muttering or complaining, said Meerankutti, surprised at their endurance. The British, on hearing this, banned such revenges and said complaints, if any, against the Japanese could be reported to the authorities concerned. On complaints, about 200 Japanese, including some 50 officers, were arrested and taken to Singapore for trials in martial court. Some civilians also accompanied as witnesses. On their the witnesses told stories of the court proceedings and the hanging of some Japanese for their atrocities in the Andaman Islands. By the end of October 1945 disarmament throughout the Islands had been completed and by February 1946 repatriation of POWs was also almost over.  

Ground Situation in Port Blair:

When the British took over, Port Blair town was most unhygienic and distressing; transport and communication facilities had been damaged very badly (of course, by the British attack only). The town was full of filth and dirt - damaged drains, mass of dump and above all the ill-clad, ill-fed and pathetically sick civilians. It was nothing but deterioration & destruction, starvation & death, sufferings & sacrifices! With all sorts of diseases prevalent, vaccination programme was taken up at once. “For the first six months”, Meerankutti mused, “the civilians were simply fed and there was not much work to do. It was an enjoyable time, with ration given and cinemas screened”. Rightly so because what the harassed civilians very much needed was the healing touch of an angel. He added that a news-reel was shot in the town at the time of reoccupation. The British Government employed as many hands as possible by relaxing rules. Preference was given to those who had served earlier in the British administration. Mr. Qadir, who was working as a Clerk in the Public Works Department (PWD) before Japanese occupation, re-joined the service and retired as Assistant Commissioner of Nicobar in the late 1970s. Meerankutti worked as a painter and got paid Rs. 60 a month. A rough census taken in 1945 by the British for rationing purposes revealed a figure of 18,000 for Andamans Islands alone, as against the 1941 figure of 21,316. Thus, during their 3 ½ years of rule, the Japanese had reduced the population of Andamans alone by more than 3,000. Pre-war evacuation, indiscriminate massacre by the Japanese, starvation & diseases, mental agony and humiliation, all had reduced the population drastically.

Car Nicobar is reoccupied:

Car Nicobar Island, the district headquarters of Nicobar Group of Islands, was reoccupied by British troops on October 18 1945 (9 days after Andamans was reoccupied) after clearing underwater mines and other difficulties too. Due to their unique way of living, the Car Nicobarese had not suffered as much as the Andaman civilians, though many had perished and suffered much. Reportedly, the rehabilitation work here was much easier and rapidly finished than in Port Blair. The other Nicobar Islands were more or less left untouched by the Japanese forces.  

Japan’s surrender in the WW-II arena:

As WW-II was progressing with series of victories by Japan, the international scene was also changing rapidly. The USA dropped the first ever atomic bomb on Hiroshima city on August 6 1945, devastating half the city, killing 80,000 citizens and seriously injuring an equal number. Two days later, on August 8, 1945, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria the next day. Three days later, on 9^th August 1945, the US dropped the second n-bomb on Nagasaki naval base of Japan, now killing 40,000 people and seriously injuring an equal number. Shaken to the core by this, the Imperial Japanese Government offered to surrender on the 10^th of August 1945, “without prejudice to the Emperor Hirohito’s position.” The very next day (11^th August 1945), the Japanese Cabinet agreed to “unconditional surrender” on the intervention of Emperor. This was officially announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15^th August 1945, and signing of the Instrument of Surrender by his representatives took place on 2^nd September 1945, thus officially ending World War-II. The signing ceremony took place aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the Instrument of Surrender as American General Richard K. Sutherland watched.

Thus came to an end the 3 years 6 months and 13 days nightmarish rule of the Japanese in the one and only Indian Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands during WW-II.                

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