British interpreter Hugh Lunghi recounted an embarrassing episode which occurred during the Potsdam Conference , when Mountbatten , desiring to receive an invitation to visit the Soviet Union , repeatedly attempted to impress Joseph Stalin with his former connections to the Russian imperial family . The attempt fell predictably flat , with Stalin dryly inquiring whether " it was some time ago that he had been there " . Says Lunghi , " The meeting was embarrassing because Stalin was so unimpressed . He offered no invitation . Mountbatten left with his tail between his legs . " During his time as Supreme Allied Commander of the Southeast Asia Theatre , his command oversaw the recapture of Burma from the Japanese by General William Slim . A personal high point was the receipt of the Japanese surrender in Singapore when British troops returned to the island to receive the formal surrender of Japanese forces in the region led by General Itagaki Seishiro on 12 September 1945 , codenamed Operation Tiderace . South East Asia Command was disbanded in May 1946 and Mountbatten returned home with the substantive rank of rear-admiral . That year , he was made a Knight of the Garter and created '' ' Viscount Mountbatten of Burma ' '' , of Romsey in the County of Southampton as a victory title for war service
Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma