FOOD SUPPLIES ARRIVE IN JAVA: UNLOADING SUPPLIES AT BATAVIA DOCKS [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: FOOD SUPPLIES ARRIVE IN JAVA: UNLOADING SUPPLIES AT BATAVIA DOCKS [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: JFU 389
  • Other titles: BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: The American merchantman SS Canton Victory laden with foodstuffs and en route to New Guinea is diverted to Batavia, capital of the Dutch East Indies (Jakarta, Indonesia).
  • Description: View taken from the ship: a file of Japanese officers, some carrying swords, walk along the quayside. Looking down on Javanese stevedores at work piling sacks onto a trolley. A cargo net is lowered down. An empty net is lowered into the hold. View into the hold still full of sacks. Barge with tug alongside. A cargo net is emptied into the barge. A sign on the ship reads 'SS Canton Victory/Built for US Maritime Commission/Hull no. V-765/By Permanente Metals Corporation/Richmond California July 1945'. An empty net is swung across deck. View of a cable drum unwinding. Man directing the crane operator with hand signals. Looking into the hold through a haze of flour dust. Net lowered towards the dockside. A cart is taken to a warehouse. A (civilian?) man in pith helmet wearing an armband marked 'RAPWI'.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-09-30
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: War Office Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) SEAC Film Unit (Production company) MacTavish, DuncanDuncan MacTavish, service number 378125, sergeant cameraman with No 9 Army Film & Photographic Unit, later promoted 2nd Lieutenant 6 September 1945 (see Supplement to the London Gazette, 11 April 1947). (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: United States Merchant Navy, CANTON VICTORY (SS), freighter (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Batavia, Java, Netherlands East Indies (geography) Allied Occupation of the Netherlands East Indies, Allied Occupation of South East Asia post-August 1945 (event) Recovery of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees 1945, Allied Prisoners of War Far East 1939-1945, Internment (event) Empire & Commonwealth (theme) British Army 1939-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 202 ft; Running time: 3 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: 'RAPWI' stood for 'Recovery of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees' and was the agency responsible for locating and evacuating Allied military and civilian captives of the Japanese. The SS Canton Victory was one of the 'Victory ships' which superseded the 'Liberty ships' produced to make good shipping losses during the Battle of the Atlantic. Generally these ships were 455ft long with a 62ft beam and a displacement of 15,200 tons. Some 534 were completed and 3 survive to this day as museum ships. Canton Victory was scrapped in 1989.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    JFU 389

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