Japanese military and civilian envoys wait to board a USAAF C-54 aircraft at Ie Shima airfield, Ryukyu Islands, August 19, 1945. The delegation had come to Ie Shima from Japan in specially-marked aircraft, en route to Gen MacArthur’s headquarters in Manila to receive instructions concerning surrender and occupation arrangements. The officer in the center foreground is the delegation’s head, Lt-Gen Torashiro Kawabe, deputy chief of the Japanese Army general staff. (Credit: US Naval Historical Center)
