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A stunning collection of 134 black and white photographs about the Liberation of Hong Kong and of Canadian Prisoners of War (POWs), the surrender and disarmament of the Japanese Soldiers in that then British Colony by the Navy Crew of the H.M.C.S. Prince Robert (armed merchant cruiser). May to September 1945 during WWII. Royal Canadian Navy, 1945. Sheets. Photography. Very Good. Real photographs, almost all 4" x 5", most of them in very good condition, a few with waterstains, browning and/or creasing at the corners. They have never been glued or scotched. These official Royal Canadian Navy photographs were offered to the Crew of the Prince Robert and picture orders were taken on board during the journey back from Hong Kong. In our collection, approximately 64 photos were taken directly in Hong Kong or near its shores, 21 are about the Ship and her Crew, and 49 were taken during the journey at sea. Showing the disarmanent of the Japanese army, the liberation of Hong Kong, the release of the Canadian POWs, as well as the ship journey in different places back and forth from Canada. Almost all the photographs have a description (handwritten in ink in the back of the photographs or through recent printed material about the photos), all of them with a negative number and the "Royal Canadian Naval Photograph" mention in the back. That photo collection shows many views of V-E Day, the liberation of Hong Kong (a city of 1,500,000 people), the disarmament of Japanese soldiers, the facilitating of the Japanese surrender of September 16, 1945, the signing of the Armistice (by Admiral Cecil Harcourt, and Japanese Vice Admiral Fujita and Major General Umekichi, with Captain Creery as a witness), Peace Treaty Celebrations, views of Stanley, Kowloon, Sham Shui Po POW camps and the release of prisoners, POW close-ups in groups (Winnipeg Grenadiers, Royal Rifles, Eastern townships - Québec, the Roman Catholic missionaries), the daily life and struggle for survival in the streets of Hong Kong and in the harbour in times of war, views of Hong Kong from the Ship, of the Empress of Australia and of other British ships, photos of Crew members/officers and action scenes on her board, transport of amunitions, mounted Bofors and twin Oerlikons fitted with gyro sights, burials at sea, etc. Also scenes of the journey en route to Hong Kong and return, in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, Manila, Sydney, passing under the Lion's Gate Bridge, San Francisco and Esquimalt (British Columbia); King Neptune's Court (traditional initiation while crossing the Equator), Hawaiian entertainers and Hula Dancers at Pearl Harbour, Honolulu, boxing matches, etc. A total of 1682 Canadians were made prisoners of war by Japan, mainly after the Hong Kong battle of 1943. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the H.M.C.S. Prince Robert was sent to Hong Kong to help liberate that colony from the Japanese and recuperate the Canadian soldiers and Roman Catholic missionaries who were jailed in the camps there. Another task of the Royal Canadian Navy Crewmen was to prevent looting and keep the Chinese from killing the Japanese soldiers. The Prince Robert, under the command of Capt. W. B. Creery, sailed on July 4th 1945 for Sydney via San Francisco. At that point she became a unit of the British fleet with a formidable task force of two fleet carriers, Indomitable and Venerable, two cruisers, Swiftsure and Euryalus, 14 destroyers, minesweepers, the eighth submarine flotilla and a hospital ship was assembled by the British admiral. By that time, the atomic bombs had been dropped and the Japanese had capitulated. Hong Kong was isolated with a garrison of only about 15,000. The Prince Robert stayed in Hong Kong for just over two (2) months. This fantastic real photo collection shows the key actions undertaken by the Royal Canadian Navy and the British in relation to the Japanese surrender in Hong Kong. The Prince Robert sailed home on September 20th and arrived in Esquimalt, B.C. on October 20th. The PR. Seller Inventory # 001250
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