New Zealand’s representative signed last on Japan’s 1945 surrender document.
Air Vice-Marshal Leonard M. Isitt signed for New Zealand during the ceremony aboard USS Missouri. He was the final representative of the Allied powers to add a signature to the Instrument of Surrender, following representatives from the United States, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, and the Netherlands.
The signing order reflected the ceremony’s carefully arranged protocol. Douglas MacArthur signed for the Allied powers before the individual national representatives signed. Isitt’s signature came near the end, after Lieutenant Admiral Conrad Helfrich signed for the Netherlands.
New Zealand had fought in the Pacific and other theaters during World War II, including campaigns in Greece, North Africa, Italy, and the Pacific. Its separate signature demonstrated that the British Commonwealth countries represented at the ceremony were participating as distinct Allied signatories rather than only through the United Kingdom.