Sir Philip Christison; British General Accepted Japanese Surrender

Sir Philip Christison, 100, Britain’s oldest general, who accepted the Japanese surrender at Singapore in 1945. Christison joined the army in 1914 and distinguished himself in World War I and World War II. He was believed to have served in more regiments than any other officer in the British army. In World War II, Christison inflicted the first decisive defeat on the Japanese in Burma at Arakan in 1944, turning the tide in what had been a disastrous Allied campaign. On Sept. 3, 1945, he accepted the surrender of the Japanese 7th Area Army and South Sea Fleet at Singapore, avenging one of the worst British defeats of the war--the loss of the island’s garrison 3 1/2 years earlier. In London on Tuesday.