End of Occupation

On the 6th and 9th of August, 1945, US B-29 bombers dropped two atomic bombs on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a decisive move in ending the Japanese Occupation of Southeast Asia. By this time, the Japanese forces had lost their will to continue the war and allowed Allied forces to send in reinforcements and food supplies. Prisoners-of-war (POW) were checked by the medical officers and arrangements were made to send them home.

On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its surrender. The formal signing of the surrender instrument was held at the City Hall, Singapore, then known as the "Municipal Hall", on September 12, 1945. This was followed by a celebration at the Padang, which included a victory parade.

After the surrender, there was a state of anomie in Singapore, as the British had not arrived to take control, while the Japanese occupiers had a considerably weakened hold over the populace. Incidents of looting and revenge-killing were widespread. Much of the infrastructure had been wrecked, including the harbor facilities and electricity, water supply, and telephone services. It would take four or five years for the economy to return to pre-war levels. When British troops finally arrived they were met with cheering and fanfare. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of Southeast Asia Command, came to Singapore to receive formal surrender of the Japanese forces in the region from General Itagaki Seishiro on behalf of General Hisaichi Terauchi on September 12, 1945 and a British Military Administration was formed to govern the island until March 1946.

Banana money quickly became absolutely worthless after the Occupation ended, and many individuals whose wealth had been mostly in such currency found themselves penniless overnight.

Done by Daren Loh