LONDON (Kyodo) Britain's prime minister at the end of World War II, Clement Atlee, was keen to give up on the insistence that Emperor Showa be treated as a war criminal if it meant hostilities in the Far East would come to an end more quickly, according to papers released Sunday.
Newly published National Archives records of notes taken by Deputy Cabinet Secretary Norman Brook in his own shorthand reveal the first detailed personal insights into what was said and, sometimes more importantly, who said what during debates on crucial issues in the Cabinet.
"Mistake to hold out for punishment of Emperor as war criminal if it means delaying substantially end of hostilities," the notes record Atlee as saying Aug. 10 following an announcement of the Japanese government's surrender, broadcast by Japan's Domei news agency, but before Britain received official confirmation of the surrender.