By Christmas Day 1941 , it was all over. During the afternoon, it was clear that further resistance would be futile and British colonial officials, headed by the Governor, Sir Mark Young who had been in office just a few months, crossed the harbour to surrender at the Peninsula Hotel, which had been commandeered by the invading forces as their headquarters. In the ill-lit hotel basement, the Governor was obliged to sign the Surrender Instrument. Young thereby became the first British colonial governor to surrender a colony.