Which two Allied officers received pens used by MacArthur to sign Japan's surrender?

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Jonathan Wainwright and Arthur Percival received pens used by MacArthur to sign Japan's surrender.

General Douglas MacArthur used several pens while signing the Instrument of Surrender on USS Missouri. Two were given to Allied officers whose careers were closely connected with major wartime defeats and captivity: American General Jonathan Wainwright and British Lieutenant General Arthur Percival.

Wainwright had surrendered Allied forces in the Philippines in 1942 and later endured captivity. Percival had surrendered British forces at Singapore in the same year and was also imprisoned by Japan. Their presence at the ceremony symbolized the reversal of earlier Japanese victories in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

Wainwright's pen was donated to the West Point Museum at the United States Military Academy. Percival's pen went to the Cheshire Military Museum in Britain. MacArthur's final pen was red and went to his wife, while another black pen used by his aide Courtney Whitney remained with Whitney's family. These artifacts are separate from the document itself.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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