SURRENDER CEREMONY AT HONG KONG [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: SURRENDER CEREMONY AT HONG KONG [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: ADM 1196
  • Other titles: BRITISH NAVAL OPERATIONS IN THE FAR EAST [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary:
  • Description: I. Reel One. Vice-Admiral Ruitako Fujita, Major-General Okada and Mr Nakamura, former Commissioner of Foreign Affairs, pass the camera as they leave Government House after the surrender ceremony. MCU of line of Indian troops - ex-POWs who had been spectators at the signing. Allied representatives and their staffs pose for photographs. Vice-Admiral Harcourt and Admiral Fraser preside over the flag raising ceremony after the signing. Cut to scenes before the ceremony - arrival of two Japanese aides under armed guard, arrival of Chinese and RAF representatives. Honour guard comes to attention for arrival of senior Allied officers. CU of Fraser and staff in the grounds. II. Admiral Fraser tours Hong Kong on 14 September, 1945. Fraser comes ashore from HMS Duke of York to be greeted by Vice-Admiral Harcourt. The two admirals talk with the Reverend A Sandbach, and look out over Hong Kong from the balcony of flats where British internees were held. Fraser inspects 'Kitchen 5'. Accompanied by General Festing, Fraser looks at a detachment of Japanese soldiers - they stand in scattered groups, their kit at their feet - Fraser talks with the commanding officer, who wears a cork sun helmet - the Japanese is very conscious of the camera. Fraser talks with Australian troops. The Admiral talks with nuns at the Church of the Little Sisters of the Poor - Sister Francis and Sister Gertrude are charmed. III. Arrival of HMS Duke of York. Various shots of the battleship entering Hong Kong Bay and at her moorings. IV. Reel Two. LS pan over crowded shipping - LSTs, Landing craft, merchant vessels - to hold on aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable. MS from camera on Venerable to starboard quarter of Indomitable, and view of distant shipping in the bay. V. HMS Venerable at sea. HA.MS sequence from the island as a range of Corsairs is flown off. VI. Picnic Bay. Sequence shot from small craft on the waters of Picnic Bay - LSs of Japanese Shinyo suicide craft pulled up on the beach. VII. Aerial sequence over Hong Kong - HMS Duke of York is in the bay. Cut to view of Indomitable, shot from small craft. Revert to aerial sequence, the camera-aircraft passing over hillside villas to fly out over the bay where Indomitable lies surrounded by small craft, a destroyer anchored nearby. Camera passes over HMS Maidstone alongside, a sunken tanker in the harbour, waterfront and docks areas, and out over local small craft towards Duke of York. VIII. Lieutenant-Colonel Shiomi and Lieutenant-Colonel Kamazawa, Japanese staff officers, leave the Kowloon Disarmament Conference. They enter a staff car. IX. MCU pan over a small group of Japanese - one looks sullenly away from the camera. Under arrest for war crimes? X. Sequence showing a wedding in Hong Kong - the bridegroom wears an officer's khaki drill, the bride is in a plain dress with pearls and a corsage. XI. Reel Three. Surrender Ceremony, 16 September, 1945. HA.LS over Hong Kong Bay - smoke from saluting guns drifts away from the cruiser Swiftsure and from the quayside. Cut to interior of Government House. Fraser and Harcourt enter. Japanese party enter and are carefully positioned by Captain Eccles of Indomitable, a Japanese speaker - they bow to the Allied representatives. The two British admirals take their places together with Major-General Pan Hwa Kuei representing China and Colonel Adrian Williamson for the United States. The surrender document is produced and signed by Major-General Okada and then by Vice-Admiral Fujita - the Japanese signatories are assisted by Mr Nakimura. After signing, both officers surrender their swords. Harcourt then signs, and hands the swords to an aide. Spectators mill about after the signing. XII. Reel Four. Complementary to Reel Three. The Japanese representatives enter Government House under guard. Fraser and Harcourt enter together. MS of table for the Allied representatives - Fraser takes a spectators seat, while at the table sit Major-General Pan, Vice-Admiral Harcourt, Colonel Williamson, and the Canadian representative, Captain W B Creery of HMCS Prince Robert. CUs of the Allied representatives, and pan over the spectators - an aide at the end of the table signals to someone, probably the cameraman, to move off to the right. CU of Fraser. Harcourt receives the swords of the Japanese representatives which he leans against the table - he signs the surrender document and reads out the terms - he then stands, handing the swords to an aide. Cut to grounds of Government House - delegates have group photographs taken, salutes are fired, and there is a low-level fly-past by Corsairs. RM band performs. Cut to CUs of surrender document bearing the signatures of the Japanese, and HA over Harcourt's shoulder as he signs. XIII. Sequence showing HMS Duke of York entering harbour.
  • Alternative Title: BRITISH NAVAL OPERATIONS IN THE FAR EAST [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: ADM 1196
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-09-16
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Admiralty (Production sponsor) Naval Information Liaison Division (Production company) Thomson, Harold (Sub-Lieutenant) (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Fraser, Bruce Austin (person) Harcourt, Cecil Halliday Jepson (person) Fujita, Ruitaro (person) Okada, Umekichi (person) Festing, Francis Wogan (person) Pan, Hwa Kuei (person) Williamson, Adrian (person) Eccles, John Arthur Symons (person) Creery, W B (person) Shiomi (Lieutenant-Colonel) (person) Kamazawa (Lieutenant-Colonel) (person) Nakamura (Mr) (person) Sandbach, A (person) Royal Navy, DUKE OF YORK (HMS), battleship (regiment/service) Royal Navy, Venerable (regiment/service) Royal Navy, Indomitable (regiment/service) Royal Navy, MAIDSTONE (HMS) (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: ships, British naval - battleship: Duke of York (object name) ships, British naval - aircraft carrier, fleet: Indomitable (object name) ships, British naval - harbour: Maidstone & [-] (object name) aircraft, United States naval - combat: Vought F4U Corsair & [British] (object name) Surrender of Japanese Forces 1945, Hong Kong, Second World War (event) Pacific Ocean (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 5 Footage: 3098 ft; Running time: 35 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    ADM 1196

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    ABY 168 (JAPANESE SURRENDER OF HONG KONG [Allocated Title]) ADM 1770 (SURRENDER CEREMONY AT HONG KONG [Allocated Title]) ADM 2668 (JAPANESE SURRENDER IN HONG KONG AND VIEWS OF THE ISLAND [Allocated Title]) JFU 376 (JAPANESE SURRENDER OF HONG KONG [Allocated Title])
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