Which Allied commander signed first for the Allied powers at Japan’s 1945 surrender ceremony?

Douglas MacArthur signed first for the Allied powers at Japan’s 1945 surrender ceremony.

MacArthur signed in his role as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. He had also commanded Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific Area and had returned to the Philippines in 1944 after promising, “I shall return.” His position made him the senior Allied officer at the ceremony.

After MacArthur signed, Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz signed for the United States. Representatives of China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand followed in that order.

MacArthur gave brief remarks after the signatures were completed. The ceremony on USS Missouri lasted only a short time, but its carefully arranged sequence emphasized that Japan’s surrender applied to all the Allied powers represented there.