Title:HMS CAPETOWN ON THE CHINA STATION [Allocated Title]
Film Number:MGH 6452
Other titles:AMATEUR FILM BY LIEUTENANT ALLEN ELWIN [Alternative Title]
Summary: Amateur film shot by Lieutenant Allen Elwin before the Second World War while serving on the cruiser «HMS Capetown» in the Far East (July 1936- April 1938) mainly records social life of officers on board and ashore in China, but also catches the departure (October 1937) of most of the ship's crew by train "HMS Capetown II" to Hong Kong to avoid Sino-Japanese conflict on the Yangtse River.
Description: Reel 1: (Kodak GB date stock 1936 early. "Trip out. Shooting. Hong Kong. Shanghai. Junks in river. Football match") Voyage east, via Suez Canal, Aden and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Naval cutter races.Junks. Through heavy seas. Ashore. Up Yangtse River, with fellow officers on deck.
Reel 2: (Kodak US date stock 1936 late. "Can 2: Divers. Children's Party. Mixed hockey. Water-skiing. Peking.") Officers on deck. Marines disembark by cutter. Shooting fowl from flat-bottomed boats. Junk. Diver in frogman's suit. Women playing hockey with men. Dignitaries in colonial uniform come aboard HMS Capetown. Children's party onboard. Panning views across Peking.
Reel 3: (Kodak US date stock 1937 late. "Can 3: Refugees. Dry-dock. Cotton. Sailors going home.") Chinese rowing. Shipboard scenes, including HMS Capetown's silver. Another children's party onboard. Water-skiing. Sailors board train marked with sign "HMS Capetown II. Spes Bona" at start of journey from Hankow to Hong Kong. Bales of cotton.
Reel 4: (Kodak US date stock 1936 late. "Can 4") Seaplane off coast. RN officers ashore. Naval cutter races (Wei Hai Wei?). Shipboard scenes. Dogs, including spaniel. Running round deck. Officers and sailors ashore in country.
Reel 5: (Kodak US date stock 1937 early. "Can 5") Destroyers pass. RN officer holds baby in arms on deck. Mother with black spaniel, and Lieutenant with baby on deck. Offshore. Women (RN wives?) play tennis.
Reel 6: (Can marked "China II" - Kodak US date stock 1935 early) Hilly landscape with Chinese temples. RN officers in rowing boat. Water buffalo ploughing paddy field. Moored junks. (Colour)
Reel 7: (Can marked "Pacific") - Kodak GB date stock 1939 early and US 1940 or 1944) Naval cutter races. RN officers in summer dress on deck, with female guests. Transfer from HMS Capetown to destroyer by breeches buoy. Striped cat (ship's cat?). Aircraft carrier. Chinese women and children ashore. Sydney Harbour Bridge (Australia).
Alternative Title:AMATEUR FILM BY LIEUTENANT ALLEN ELWIN [Alternative Title]
