Signed Japanese flag : surrender ceremony, HMAS Bataan

Standard Japanese national wool flag equipped with a pair of leather bound corner hoists, each with a pair of tie cords. The flag carries the signatures of HMAS Bataan's crew, signed in indelible purple ink. Damp has affected the signatures, causing bleeding and some illegibility. Legible signatures are: W H Davis, Longwarry Nth, Victoria; E McKinnon, 1 Cairns Grove, Bentleigh, Victoria; R Pash, East Perth, W Australia; Reg Heald, Elwood, Vic; F Moore, South Melb, Vic; H C Johnson, Malvern, Victoria; R Gray, Bondi, Sydney; W Stafford, Elsternwick, Melbourne; C N Boys, Perth, WA; M J Roden, Wollongong, NSW; 'Jessee' Jessup, Brisbane, Queensland; L G Thomas, Manly, NSW; C L Allen, NSW; W E Jackson, Claremont, Tasmania; R A Fowler, Brighton, NSW; J E M McPharland (?), Balaclava, Sth Aus; R Draper, Malvern, Vic; Hugh L Webb, Linville, QLD; Dick Roche, Lithgow, NSW; (signature illegible) Tokyo, 2nd November 1945; (the following in a box under the title 'Newcastle mates'): J Doyle, Newcastle, NSW; Gus Smith; Zero Smith; Geisha Girls Incorporated, Newcastle; L Randell, Waratah, N'cle, NSW (end Newcastle box); R S King, Nedlands, Perth, West Aus; S Cook, Cobram, Vic; Robert Roberts, Mount Sale , Cobley, SA; K L Kelb, Trayner, Tasmania; ? James Chadwick, 50 Frome St, South Yarra, Melb; Eric L ?, NTPF; B Siddons, NSW; L L Fridham (?), Footsgray, Melb; Eric A Millhouse, Adelaide, South Aust; R G Gillespie, E Malvern, Victoria; B Douglas, Gunnedah, NSW; J D Richardson, Bruce Rock, NSW; R Coussens, Sydney; AJ ?; R Speare, Henley Beach, S Aus; R J Bratt, Launceston, Tasmania; L S Fogg, 58 James St, Launceston, Tasmania; Leslie Krith McLean, Boomara, Victoria; V McGongall, Vic; S Crossingham, Tenterfield, NSW; Snowy Coventry, Fitzroy, Vic; G E Shepherd, Brighton, Victoria.

Japanese flag signed by approximately 55 members (or about one fifth) of the crew of the Tribal Class destroyer, HMAS Bataan on the occasion of the surrender of Japan in Tokyo Harbour on 2 September 1945. HMAS Bataan was laid down on 18 February 1942 at Cockatoo Dockyard in Sydney and launched on 15 January 1944. It was completed on 26 June 1945 and under the command of Commander Henry Mackay Burrell, it joined Task Force 74 (TF74) in Subic Bay, Philippines, with fellow Tribal Class destroyer HMAS Warramunga in preparation for the final assault on Japan. Instead, Bataan accompanied Warramunga and ultimately 9 other Australian ships to Tokyo as part of the massive naval force that was present in Tokyo Bay at the official Japanese surrender on 2nd September 1945. Until November 1945, HMAS Bataan was involved in the rescue and recovery of Australian and allied prisoners of war and internees from Japanese camps before commencing operations with British Commonwealth Occupation Forces (BCOF) in Japan. Bataan subsequently saw operation during the Korean War and was finally scrapped in 1958.