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Three and a half years of brutal military occupation in Malaya came to an end in a historic
20-minute ceremony held in the V.I. Hall at 2 p.m. on September 13th, 1945. With the surrender
of Japanese forces in Singapore the previous day, the turn came for the Japanese military in
Malaya. A large crowd gathered outside the V.I. compound jeered at the Japanese officers as they
arrived at the V.I. in cars flying white flags. The British party comprising Lt.-Gen. O.L. Roberts,
commander of the 34 Indian Corps, Captain E.T. Cooper of the Royal Navy, Air Vice-Marshal the
Earl of Brandon and others, arrived at the front entrance of the school and inspected a guard of
honour.
In the school hall two tables had been set up for the signatories. Interpreters explained the terms of the surrender to the Japanese officers and an unconditional surrender was agreed to. Both sides signed the surrender document with the Japanese representative using a brush to append his signature. The V.I. field was a complete mess as it had been used for parking military lorries during the occupation. The V.I. building had been used as the Japanese Military Headquarters and all school facilities had been destroyed. After the surrender, the British Military Administration commandeered the V.I. premises and it was only a year later in September 1946 that the V.I. staff and pupils were allowed back to their place on the hill.
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