Copyright expired - public domain
Newsreel footage of Allied naval ships heading to Tokyo Bay. Among them were 10 Royal Australian Navy ships. The formal Japanese surrender took place in Tokyo Bay, and Allied prisoners of war (POWs) were waiting to be freed. This would have been shown at cinemas throughout Australia. British Pathé Film ID: 1163.31
Transcript
['Tokyo Bay' displayed on screen].
King George V, Duke of York and units of the Allied Pacific fleets close on Tokyo Bay for the occupation of Japan. To the flagship of Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser comes his American opposite number, Admiral William 'Bull' Halsey, slung from ship to ship by breeches buoy.
[Music.]
A meeting of two men who carried the biggest naval responsibilities in the Pacific. The Navy's Far East Victory Team. [Music.] Off the northern shores of Sagami Bay, Japanese harbour pilots are taken aboard before the great ships move in. The Japanese Navy, once the toughest of all Japan's armed forces, is slowly getting accustomed to taking orders in English.
[Music.]
Strung out along the rugged coastline, the ships of the Allied Armada have taken up their positions for the entry into Tokyo Bay. Within gun range is the coast on which every navy man expected the bloodiest fighting of the whole war. Carrier-borne planes roared over Japan's home waters. Tokyo Bay with Fujiyama, the sacred mountain, shrouded in mist. Along this coastline, Allied prisoners were known to be waiting for freedom.
First job was to dash ashore and there was no mistaking where to look. Many are wearing clothes dropped by Superfortresses (B-29 bomber planes) on mercy missions. Anything up to three-and-a-half years in captivity but they can still raise a laugh. After the horrors that have been discovered in some Japanese camps, the first batches of prisoners didn't seem in too bad shape, but we weren't taking any risks.
Tokyo had been without water and other services for weeks. Every prisoner was shipped out immediately for a thorough checkup by navy doctors. Standing by, a little way offshore, was the American hospital ship Benevolence. With the wherewithal for a spot of comfort on board. Healthy, as well as sick, went up the easy way.
Many of them have been given up as lost for the Japs took very little notice of the international laws about war prisoners. Now they are free - free of their Jap guards and free to go home and, boy, are they happy.
