HONG KONG RESTORED TO BRITISH RULE [Allocated Title]

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Media files

  • Title: HONG KONG RESTORED TO BRITISH RULE [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: JIN 114
  • Other titles: INDIAN ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: As Britain resumes control of Hong Kong after the surrender of Japan, British, Indian and Canadian prisoners of war are freed, and Japanese troops interned, and suspected war criminals arrested.
  • Description: Reel 1: Aerial views over Hong Kong and Kowloon, with a variety of naval vessels in the harbour; the HSBC building can be seen in the opening shot. Aircraft carriers and cruisers in the harbour. Aircraft carrier berthed with a launch heading away from it; a cruiser (possibly HMS Euryalus) is moored a short distance away. Street scene in Hong Kong with civilians and open shops. Two Royal Navy sailors, with sword bayonets fixed to their slung Lanchester submachine guns, chatting with freed Canadian prisoners of war. Closer shot; sharing cigarettes. Three Indian former POWs; with panning close-up. Two Indian former prisoners; a child skates past. View of the harbour with berthed aircraft carrier. On the deck of an aircraft carrier (either HMS Venerable or Vengeance), standing by the deck lift looking aft, with Corsair IV fighters and two freed Indian POWs being shown around. One aircraft is identifiable, serial KD414. A naval officer shows a POW the flight deck. Another naval officer on the flight deck with the other former POW (possibly aircraft KD373 parked behind). A Japanese officer, Colonel Tokunaga, is escorted under armed guard out of the Peninsula Hotel and into a waiting (Japanese) staff car. Tokunaga appears to be holding up his trousers. Another Japanese (officer?) is led into the car. Looking through the open car window at one of the Japanese; a naval cameraman climbs into the car. Another man is led out. Low-angle medium close-up Japanese liaison officer (probably a lieutenant-colonel) with two lanyards. Tokunaga leaves Kowloon jail. Other Japanese boarding a lorry (which is marked ‘Anson’); escorting marines climb aboard. Japanese on the lorry. The lorry departs with local children jeering as it goes. At the harbour Japanese officers board a small motor launch. The motor launch crosses the harbour and the Japanese officers step ashore. Contingent of Japanese troops marching to Shamshuipo prisoner of war camp; one Japanese soldier, carrying mess tins, stops to pick something up and is brusquely moved along by one of the escorts from the RAF Regiment. A column of Japanese troops, heavily laden with baggage; some push carts. A sign (in Japanese katakana script) in the background reads ‘Matsuzakaya’, the name of a Japanese department store. Reel 2: Heavily laden Japanese troops marching through Hong Kong. Japanese troops passing. At Shamshuipo prisoner of war camp; Japanese troops resting; some of the men wear Red Cross armbands and a trunk on a small cart is similarly marked. A bespectacled Japanese man removing equipment and mopping brow. An RAF sergeant searches a Japanese soldier’s baggage. A sailor searches baggage. A Japanese soldier; a British airman (?) yanks his pack from his back and searches it with obvious aggression. He flings various small items to the ground as he does so; the Japanese soldier tries to undo the various straps. A flight lieutenant (with some kind of flail hanging from his belt?) is also present and searches a bundle. A Japanese soldier is vigorously frisked. A flight lieutenant (the same as seen previously) searches a pack and discards an inscribed Japanese flag; an airman kicks it along the ground. A unit of Japanese troops, without their baggage. Royal Navy sailors stand guard with Lanchester submachine guns and Lee Enfield rifles. A small detachment of Japanese are marched off. Japanese troops returning with some kind of equipment. Japanese troops burning rubbish (at a former Japanese headquarters?). Sorting through rubbish. Japanese troops push a small cart. Clearing rubbish under guard. Royal Navy sailor.
  • Alternative Title: INDIAN ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: JIN 114
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-09-11
  • Production Country: India
  • Production Details: Public Relations Directorate, India (Production sponsor) Indian Public Relations Film Unit (Production company) Salem, A (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Navy, EURYALUS (HMS), cruiser (1939) (regiment/service) Royal Navy, VENERABLE (HMS) (regiment/service) Royal Navy, HMS VENGEANCE, aircraft carrier (1944) (regiment/service) Royal Navy, Fleet Air Arm (regiment/service) Royal Air Force, Royal Air Force Regiment (regiment/service) Tokunaga, Esao (person)
  • Keywords: Hong Kong (geography) Kowloon, Hong Kong (geography) Liberation of Hong Kong 1945, Pacific War 1941-1945, Second World War (event) British Army 1939-1945 (theme) Canadian Army 1939-1945 (theme) Prisoners of War, Far East 1939-1945 (theme) Japanese Atrocities, War Crimes (event) Indian Army 1939-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 2 Footage: 1245 ft; Running time: 14 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    JIN 114

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    ADM 1207 (SCENES IN HONG KONG AFTER THE RE-OCCUPATION [Allocated Title])
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