| Lawrence Moore Cosgrave | |
| Branch: | Canadian Militia Canadian Expeditionary Force Canadian Army |
| Allegiance: | Canada |
| Birth Date: | August 28, 1890 |
| Birth Place: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Death Place: | Knowlton, Quebec, Canada |
| Serviceyears: | 1912–1919, 1942–1946 |
| Battles: | First World War (WIA) |
| Rank: | Colonel |
| Laterwork: | Diplomat, trade commissioner |
| Awards: | Distinguished Service Order & Bar Croix de Guerre (France) Mentioned in Despatches (3) |
Colonel Lawrence Vincent Moore Cosgrave, (August 28, 1890 - July 28, 1971) was a Canadian soldier, author, diplomat and trade commissioner. He was the Canadian signatory to the Japanese Instrument of Surrender at the end of World War II.
A decorated veteran of World War I, Cosgrave was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He worked as a trade diplomat between the wars. After the Pacific War broke out he served as the Canadian Military Attache to Australia, for the South West Pacific Area.
Cosgrave was born in Toronto, Ontario, on August 28, 1890. Cosgrave was the son of Lawrence J., founder of Cosgrave & Sons Brewery Company, and brother of James, a partner with E. P. Taylor in horse racing's Cosgrave Stables. He was a cousin of W. T. Cosgrave, who is considered to be Ireland's first Taoiseach.
Lawrence was a 1912 graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, student # 851[1] and subsequently attended McGill University. After he was commissioned as a militia artillery officer, he quickly befriended John McCrae, who was also an artillery officer from McGill.
When the First World War broke out, Cosgrave and McCrae volunteered for the Canadian Expeditionary Force together, and signed each other’s attestation papers. Cosgrave, apparently signed McCrae's attestation on the wrong line.
He served as an artillery officer in the Canadian Field Artillery on the Western Front, where was wounded and blinded in one eye. Cosgrave was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Order, first in 1916 and again in 1918. His DSO bar citation reading:[2] He fought at the Second Battle of Ypres alongside McCrae and Lieutenant Alexis Helmer. Later, Cosgrave was presented with the French Croix de Guerre.[3] During the Battle of Hill 70, Cosgrave played a role in reconnaissance and intelligence that coordinated the elimination of German artillery, which contributed greatly to Canadian victory in the battle. His first DSO citation noted that he:Cosgrave stated that his friend Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields" in 20 minutes on a scrap of paper resting on Cosgrave's back. John Scott Cowan of the RMC, writes that this is the "most likely" account of the drafting of "In Flanders Fields". The poem was first published on December 8 that year in the London-based magazine Punch. Cosgrave unveiled the Colonel John McCrae Memorial, at Boezinge, Ypres, West Flanders, on October 5, 1963.[4]
Cosgrave wrote the book Afterthoughts of Armageddon (Toronto: S.B. Gundy, 1919), about his experiences during World War I, and dedicated it to "the million dead". One article describes the book "as an account of the emotions Cosgrave and his comrades experienced in the years of grinding horror, poison gas and trench warfare". It was published by his wife Beryl (née Hunter Jones).[3] Cosgrave ended the book with his thoughts when he heard children singing "Silent Night" in occupied Germany, the Christmas after the Armistice of 1918. He wrote:Cosgrave finished the war with the rank of lieutenant colonel at only 28. He was demobilized in 1919 and did not pursue an active military career.
Between the wars Cosgrave served with the Trade and Commerce Department. Cosgrave worked in various consular posts, he then became a senior official with the Trade and Commerce Department and was Canadian trade commissioner in the Orient.
He was the Assistant Canadian Government Trade Commissioner in London from 1922 to 1924; Canadian Trade Commissioner at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park in 1924; at Shanghai from 1925 to 1935; at Melbourne from 1935 to 1937; and at Sydney from 1937 to 1942.
Cosgrave's post as trade commissioner in Shanghai was according to Trade and Commerce second in importance only to London. He was the de facto ambassador, chief Canadian presence in China and an important figure in early Canada-China relations (Canada would not establish embassies until the 1940s). He made contacts with top ministers of the Nationalist regime in Nanjing, reorganized the trade office and "promoted Canadian prestige through a vast social and business network" in the Shanghai international community. He became a member of the illustrious Shanghai Club and joined the Shanghai Volunteer Corps. The North China Daily News drew a caricature of him and wrote:
On April 29, 1932, during a celebration for the birthday of Emperor Hirohito in Shanghai, a Korean independence activist threw a bomb that killed or wounded several Japanese officials. Cosgrave, a bystander, came to the assistance and possibly saved the life of Mamoru Shigemitsu, who would become the Japanese Foreign Minister at the end of World War II.
Amid growing safety concerns in Shanghai due to political instability and conflict, along with the city's muggy weather, hectic living conditions, dirty streets, and artificial social life, Cosgrave requested reassignment and was transferred to Melbourne in 1934.
Cosgrave returned to military service in 1942. During World War II he was the Canadian Military Attache to Australia, for the South West Pacific Area. He was chosen as the Canadian representative at the official surrender of Japan and on September 2, 1945, signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on behalf of Canada aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. When his turn to sign came, Cosgrave inadvertently placed his signature one line too low on the Japanese copy of the documents, signing on the line for the French Republic. This was attributed to his being blind in one eye, through an injury sustained in the First World War.[5]
The problem was easily corrected, by US General Richard Sutherland who crossed out "French Republic" and wrote in "Dominion of Canada" under Cosgrave's signature, then made similar corrections for the rest of the document.[6] [7] Air Vice-Marshal Leonard Monk Isitt, the Dominion of New Zealand representative, left without a blank to sign, had to have his name and country written in at the bottom margin of the document. The Japanese delegates accepted the corrected copy.[8] Cosgrave did not repeat this error on the Allied copy.[9]
Cosgrave knew Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, who signed the instrument of surrender on behalf of the Japanese Emperor and Government, from their diplomatic days in Shanghai. It is reported that their eyes met when Mamoru Shigemitsu boarded the Missouri, they both smiled with mutual recognition, before Shigemitsu once more became stern and serious. They met each other again a number of years later in London at the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953.[10] [11] [12]
Cosgrave retired from the military in 1946 and began working for the Commerce Department again. He held various consular posts in Asia; and in the 1950s, his diplomatic career continued in European consular posts.[6] He served as Chargé d'Affaires in Portugal from 1952 to 1955.[13]
On July 28, 1971, Cosgrave died at his home in Knowlton (Eastern Townships), province of Quebec where he had previously settled.
Decades after Cosgrave's death, social media of the Canadian armed forces, posted a series of tweets in September 2020, emphasizing the importance of his military career. They included these two: "Who among us was awarded two Distinguished Service Orders for gallantry in action during WWI?" and "Who among us was awarded a Croix de Guerre?".[14]