Which Canadian officer signed Japan’s surrender instrument aboard USS Missouri?

Lawrence Moore Cosgrave signed Japan’s surrender instrument aboard USS Missouri for Canada.

Cosgrave was a Canadian colonel and military attaché who represented the Dominion of Canada at the September 2, 1945, ceremony. He signed after Australia’s representative and before France’s representative in the sequence of Allied signatures.

Cosgrave accidentally signed one line too low on the Japanese copy of the document. The error shifted the printed country labels for later signatures, so U.S. General Richard K. Sutherland corrected the titles by hand and initialed the changes.

The mistake did not invalidate the surrender. Cosgrave signed the Allied copy correctly, and the corrected Japanese copy was accepted. His role is a reminder that even a highly choreographed international ceremony contained a small clerical mishap.