Air Vice Marshal Sir Leonard Monk Isitt was a New Zealand military aviator and senior air force commander. In 1943 he became the first New Zealander to serve as the Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, a post he held until 1946. At the close of World War II, Isitt was the New Zealand signatory to the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. After the war, following retirement from the Air Force, he worked as chairman of Tasman Empire Airways.
Tokyo Bay, Japan – Surrender of Japanese aboard USS Missouri. Air Vice Marshal Leonard M. Isitt, representing the Dominion of New Zealand, signs the instrument of surrender.
Chief of Air Force (New Zealand)
Chief of Air Force (CAF) is the most senior appointment in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, responsible to the Chief of Defence Force. The post was originally known as the Chief of the Air Staff.
Air Vice Marshal Sir Leonard Isitt, representing New Zealand, accepts the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945