As the Marines of 1st Battalion and 3d Battalion gave their gear a last minute check, the coxswain in the lead craft signaled with both hands aloft and the boats, now abreast, moved toward the shore exactly on schedule. Out of habit, the Marines crouched low in the boat. "No one knew what would happen on the beach. You couldn't be absolutely certain. You were dealing with the Nip." Accompanying the Marines were "enough correspondents, photographers and radio men," one Marine observed, "to make up a full infantry company."

At 0930, Marines of Lieutenant Colonel Bell's 1st Battalion landed on Red Beach southeast of Yokosuka airfield and those of the 3d Battalion, led by Major Wilson B. Hunt, on Green Beach in the heart of the Navy Yard. There was no resistance. The few unarmed Japanese present wore white arm bands, as instructed, to signify that they were essential maintenance troops, officials, or interpreters. Hot-heads and others considered unable to abide by the Emperor's decree had been removed. Oriented by the few remaining personnel, the two Marine battalions rapidly moved forward, fanning out around hangers and buildings. Leaving guards at warehouses and other primary installations, the Marines moved across the airfield and through the Navy Yard, checking all buildings and each gun position to insure that the breechblock had been removed and "driving all non-essential Japanese before them." With the seizure of Yokosuka, the three island forts in Surago Channel, and the landing on Azuma Peninsula by British forces, the initial phase of the occupation was completed.

BGen William T. Clement with Vice Admiral Michitore Totsuka, center, commander of the First Naval District, proceed to the formal surrender ceremony at Yokosuka. National Archives Photo 127-N-133863

General Clement and his staff landed at 1000 on Green Beach where they were met by Japanese Navy Captain Kiyoshi Masuda and his staff who formally surrendered the naval base. "They were informed that non-cooperation or opposition of any kind would be severely dealt with." Clement then proceeded to the Japanese headquarters building where an American flag was raised with appropriate ceremony at 1015. The flag used was the same raised by the First Provisional Brigade on Guam's Orote Peninsula and by the 6th Marine Division on Okinawa.

Vice Admiral Michitore Totsuka had been ordered to be present on the docks of the naval base to surrender the First Naval District to Admiral Carney, acting for Admiral Halsey, and Admiral Badger. At 1030, the San Diego, with Carney and Badger on board, tied up at the dock at Yokosuka. With appropriate ceremony, the formal surrender took place at 1045, after which Badger, accompanied by Clement, departed for the former naval base headquarters building, the designated site for Task Force 31 and Fleet Landing Force headquarters.

At noon, with operations proceeding satisfactorily at Yokosuka and in the occupation zone of the 11th Airborne Division, General Eichelberger assumed operational control of the Fleet Landing Force from Halsey. Both of the top American commanders in the Allied drive across the Pacific set foot on Japanese soil on L-Day. General MacArthur landed at Atsugi airfield and subsequently set up temporary headquarters in Yokohama's Grand Hotel, one of the few buildings in the city to escape serious damage. Admiral Nimitz, accompanied by Halsey, came ashore at Yokosuka at 1330 to make an inspection of the naval base.

Reserves and reinforcements landed at Yokosuka during the morning and early afternoon according to schedule. The Fleet Naval Landing Force took over the Navy Yard area secured by 3d Battalion, and the Fleet Marine Landing Force occupied the airfield installations seized by 1st Battalion. The British Landing Force, after evacuating all Japanese personnel from the island forts, landed at the navigation school in the naval base and took over the area between the sectors occupied by the Fleet Naval and Marine Landing Forces. Azuma Peninsula, a large hill mass extensively tunneled as a small boat supply base, which was part of the British occupation area, was investigated by a force of Royal Marines and found abandoned.

Flanked by LtGen Robert L. Eichelberger, hands folded at right, General Douglas MacArthur talks with reporters shortly after landing at Atsugi airfield. National Archives Photo 306-NT-316B-27

Relieved by the other elements of the landing force, the 4th Marines moved out to the Initial Occupation Line and set up a perimeter defense for the naval base and airfield. There they met groups of uniformed police brought down from Tokyo ostensibly to separate the occupational forces from the local Japanese population. Later, patrol contact was made with the 11th Airborne Division, which had landed 4,200 men during the day.

The first night ashore was quiet. Guards were posted at major installations while small roving patrols covered the larger areas on which no guards were posted. A beer ration was issued to those not on duty. "We got a couple of trucks and went up to Yokohama," Lieutenant Colonel Beans noted later, "and brought two truckloads of beer back at night, which we paid for in cash. We had no trouble whatever . . . because the entire Navy Yard had been cleared." The 4th Marines had carried out General MacArthur's orders to disarm and demobilize with amazing speed. There was no evidence that the Japanese would do anything but cooperate. It was clear, for the moment, that the occupation would succeed.

Adm William Halsey, right, discusses the occupation of Yokosuka Naval Base with FAdm Chester Nimitz and BGen Clement on the afternoon of the landings. National Archives Photo 80-G-490466

Elements of the 4th Marines move into grounds of the Experimental Aircraft Factory at Yokosuka. Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 134639

On 31 August, Clement's forces continued to consolidate their hold on the naval base and the surrounding defense area. On orders from General Eichelberger, Company L, 3d Battalion, sailed in two destroyer transports to Tateyama Naval Air Station on the northeastern shore of Sagami Wan to accept its surrender and to reconnoiter the beach approaches and cover the 3 September landing of the Army's 112th Cavalry Regimental Combat Team. With the complete cooperation of the Japanese Army, Navy, and Foreign Office, the company quickly reconnoitered the beaches and then set up its headquarters at the air station. Likewise, elements of 1st Battalion, 15th Marines, under Lieutenant Colonel Walter S. Osipoff, moved south to accept the surrender and demilitarize Japanese garrisons in the Uraga Kurihama area. Less than 500 yards from where Commodore Matthew Perry and his Marine detachment landed 92 years earlier, Osipoff, in a simple ceremony, took control of the Kurihama Naval Base. Japanese officials turned over complete inventories of all equipment and detailed maps of defensive installations, including guns so carefully camouflaged that it would have taken Marine patrols weeks to find them. Here, as at Tateyama, the Japanese carried out the surrender instructions without resistance. As Lieutenant Colonel Osipoff noted:

Among the few Marines present at the surrender ceremony on board the Missouri, other than the ship's Marine detachment, were LtGen Roy S. Geiger, his aide Ma] John Q. Owsley, BGen Joseph H. Fellows, BGen William T. Clement, and 1stLt William F. Harris, the son of BGen Field Harris. Captured on Corregidor, 1stLt Harris was one of four Americans rescued from Japanese prison camps and brought on board the Missouri to witness the surrender. The other three, all naval personnel, were Cdr Arthur L. Mosher, of the Houston, Lt James W Condit, of the Yorktown, and MM2cl L. C. Shaw of the Grenadier. National Archives Photo 80-G-3488366

When the Japanese captain presented his sword to me, it was evident that he and his officers were taking the surrender inwardly quite hard. Here was a man passing over to a foreign power everything that he stood for. Yet he looked me straight in the eye. He wasn't haughty. He didn't turn away. But he was obviously deeply moved. I felt sure he must be thinking that his surrender was some thing that went along with the military profession. You fight and lose and you must face the consequences.

Col John C. Munn brought MAG-31 into Yokosuka to support the occupation of northern Japan. The group had participated in the Marshall Island and Okinawa Campaigns before moving into Japan. Marine Corps Photo (MAG-31)

Occupation operations continued to run smoothly as preparations were made to accept the formal surrender of the Japanese Empire on board the Missouri, where leading Allied commanders had gathered from every corner of the Pacific. At 0930 on 2 September, under the flag that Commodore Perry had flown in Tokyo Bay, the Japanese representative of the Emperor, Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, and of the Imperial General Staff, General Yoshijiro Umezu, signed the surrender documents. General MacArthur then signed as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) and Admiral Nimitz for the United States. They were followed in turn by other senior allied representatives. The war that began at Pearl Harbor now officially was ended and the occupation begun. When later asked how many troops would be needed to occupy Japan, MacArthur said that 200,000 would be adequate. Lieutenant General Roy S. Geiger, Commanding General, FMFPac, agreed. "Sure," he said, "that'll be enough. There's no fight left in the Japs." Then he added: "Why, a squad of Marines could handle the whole affair."

As the surrender ceremony took place on the main deck of the Missouri, advance elements of the Eighth Army's occupation force entered Tokyo Bay. Ships carrying the Headquarters of the XI Corps and the 1st Cavalry Division docked at Yokohama. Transports with the 112th Cavalry on board moved to Tateyama, and on 3 September the troopers landed and relieved Company L, 3d Battalion, 4th Marines, which then returned to Yokosuka.

With the occupation proceeding smoothly, plans were made to dissolve the Fleet Landing Force and Task Force 31. The 4th Marines was selected to assumed responsibility for the entire naval base area and airfield. The first unit to return to the fleet was the British Landing Force, which was relieved by the 3d Battalion, 4th Marines, of the area between the Navy Yard and the airfield on 4 September. The Fleet Marine Landing Force was then relieved of its control in the Torpedo School, followed by the relief of the Fleet Naval Landing Force in the eastern end of the Navy Yard by the 3d Battalion. By 6 September, the 1st Battalion had relieved the remaining elements of the Fleet Marine Landing Force of the airfield and all ships' detachments of sailors and Marines had returned to their parent vessels and the provisional landing units deactivated.

Colorfully dressed Geisha girls watch as a Marine makes his nightly rounds. Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 136212

While a large part of the strength of the Fleet Landing Force was returning to normal duties, a considerable augmentation to Marine strength in northern Honshu was being made. On 23 August, AirFMFPac had designated Marine Aircraft Group 31 (MAG-31), then at Chimu airfield on Okinawa, to move to Japan as a supporting air group for the northern occupation. Colonel John C. Munn, the group's commanding officer, reconnoitered Yokosuka airfield and its facilities soon after the initial landing and directed necessary repairs to runways and taxiways in addition to assigning areas to each unit of the group. On 7 September, the group headquarters, operations, intelligence, and the 24 F4U Corsairs and men of Marine Fighter Squadron 441 flew in from Okinawa. The group was joined by Marine Fighter Squadron 224 on the 8th; Marine Fighter Squadron 311 on the 9th; Marine Night Fighter Squadron 542 on the 10th; and Marine Torpedo Bomber Squadron 131 on the 12th. "The entire base," the group reported, "was found [to be in] extremely poor police and all structures and living quarters in a bad state of repair. All living quarters were policed . . . under the supervision of the medical department, prior to occupation."

As additional squadrons arrived, the air base was transformed. Complete recreational facilities were established, consisting of a post exchange, theater, basketball courts, and enlisted recreation rooms in each of the squadron's barracks.

BGen Clement gives orders issued by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers to Japanese naval and Army officers at Yokosuka. National Archives Photo 127-N-134490