| Original caption: “On reaching the internment camp in Hong Kong a Japanese prisoner of war is given a thorough search by a member of the Royal Air Force Regiment.” The Admiralty detached units of the British Pacific fleet, under Rear Admiral Cecil H. J. Harcourt (April 11, 1892 – December 19, 1959), with orders to take the surrender of the Japanese at Hong Kong. This fleet was delayed in Subic Bay, the American base in the Philippines, while the Admiral’s precise official position was debated, and he was not given definite orders until August 30, by which date he was in the neighborhood of Hong Kong. He had signaled the Japanese that he would send a plane to Kai Tak Airport at a stated time and asked that Japanese representatives should meet it, to discuss the take-over arrangements and the entry of the fleet. The Japanese objected, but eventually they detailed an officer, and “Acting Governor” and former Colonial Secretary Franklin C. Gimson (September 10, 1890 – February 13, 1975) selected a member of his administration, and the 2 were flown back to Harcourt. The British Naval Force was a powerful 1, comprising the battleship Anson, 2 aircraft carriers, HMS Indomitable and HMS Venerable, cruisers including HMS Swiftsure and HMS Euryalus, destroyers and submarines with the submarine depot-ship HMS Maidstone. Admiral Harcourt made his entry at 1100 Hours on August 30, with his flag transferred to HMS Swiftsure. The triumphal fleet was preceded by minesweepers clearing a channel. It was felt that safeguards had to be taken against mines, mainly American, which had been dropped from the air to deny the use of the port to Japanese shipping, though they were designed to be inoperative after July 1. All ships were at action stations. There was no opposition from Japanese guns, but 3 small motor torpedo boats seen moving out from a nearby island were attacked and sunk because it was feared they might be on a suicidal strike mission. Naval parties landed and took over the Naval Dockyard. Machine gun and small arms fire were heard as isolated pockets of Japanese threatened to resist, but this was not serious. Some patriotic Japanese preferred what was to them a more hono rable way out by hara kiri; some were attacked in the streets and killed by vengeful crowds. Gimson came on board HMS Swiftsure, and later in the day the Admiral and Acting Governor went out to Stanley, where national flags were raised, and a thanksgiving service was held. Armed British naval parties were sent ashore to take over military and important civilian installations. When the Island had been taken over, Kowloon followed and the Japanese forces were interned, after which British control was gradually extended to the New Territories.There the take-over process was necessarily slow, and it was not until the 3rd week in November that the last Japanese outposts were relieved. The surrender ceremony was set for September 12, 1945, but had to be postponed when Kuomintang Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) protested against the British intention to receive the surrender of the Japanese in Hong Kong, since Hong Kong lay within the Chinese war zone. Eventually the surrender ceremony took place at Government House on Sunday, 16 September, at which this contentious issue was avoided by Admiral Harcourt receiving the surrender on behalf of both Britain and China. To the naval men of the liberating force, Hong Kong Colony looked desolate and grim as if the atmosphere of defeat still prevailed; the harbor was full of wrecks and the hillsides were scarred by the gaunt roofless shells of what formerly had been European homes. Admirably as the Japanese behaved, they could not prevent the outbreak of extensive looting. 1 eyewitness recorded that gangs were looting the University buildings and that the neighboring King’s College sounded, as he passed, “like a shipbreakers’ yard.” British naval parties patrolled the streets, but the looters waited until they passed and continued as before. Nobody was firmly in the saddle at this juncture and the looters seized the opportunities wide open to them. But the looting was different from that of the earlier period of the British surrender; then, looting was for furniture and food, all of saleable value, now the looting was the work of people driven by hunger and despair to get fuel for cooking, and they ripped out floorboards, staircases, window frames, ceilings, and left the buildings an empty shell. The Chinese welcomed the British as allies. British and Chinese flags appeared everywhere, and firecrackers testified to the feeling of celebration. 1 officer visiting the New Territories reported, “They stop as they see us, momentarily disbelieving; then rush forward with loud cries and great broad grins. If we have been doubtful about our welcome back, we are so no longer. The hand-shaking and dazed happiness is so completely natural and spontaneous that we are faintly surprised. The feeling seemed to be that of pride in being one of the victorious allies. There was deep hostility to the Japanese who had obviously failed to win over the local Chinese to the pan-Asiatic ideal, as well as a strong pro-Chinese nationalist sentiment born from the long fight against Japan. There was no anti-British feeling.” The European prisoners of war and civilian internees, and indeed the neutrals who lived out, were all suffering from malnutrition and sadly in need of a period of recuperation. An American journalist who came into Hong Kong with the Royal Navy said he could spot a Hong Kong war internee a block away by his gaunt legs and arms. The strain of those years had taken its toll, and the internees working to rehabilitate the Colony were described as ‘not being capable of great mental effort, had no power of decision, short memories and made frequent minor mistakes in conversation’. The hospital ship HMHS Oxfordshire sailed for home with the more serious cases, and RMS Empress of Australia left on September 17 with about 1,000 people. The rest went home as shipping became available and at public expense. Very few elected to remain in Hong Kong. All looked to the future with some misgiving, fearing that after the upheaval life for the European in Hong Kong would never be the same again. British colonial policy had already begun to take on a new look, aiming at greater self-government, and raising native peoples’ living standards. This was referred to by Gimson in his farewell message to the Colony on September 15, the day before he left for Britain, in which he spoke of British policy of fostering self-government institutions throughout the Empire. He added that there was great need for reform on the social side as well as on the political side. This note was taken up in the Press and there were demands for more urban and district councils, and for the Government to take over the public utility companies with compensation to the shareholders. The Japanese were all ordered to leave the Island, and they were interned in Whitfield Barracks, Kowloon, and in adjoining houses along Nathan Road. Several 100 Japanese women and children assembled at Queen’s Pier, early on September 1, with as many of their belongings as they could carry, reminiscent of their European counterparts 3 years and 8 months earlier, except that they were spared the many indignities suffered on that occasion. The Island was to be cleared of Japanese servicemen by 1600 Hours on September 2 Admiral Harcourt agreed to allow the Japanese flag to continue to fly over Admiralty House until that time. A submarine officer from the depot-ship Maidstone decided other-wise, for he drove to there in a jeep with 2 armed ratings at 1100 Hours that morning and without a by-your-leave raised the naval white ensign and took away the Japanese flag, and probably got away with nothing more serious than a notification from the Admiralty of their Lordships’ displeasure. A curfew was imposed from 17000 to 0600 Hours, throughout the built-up area. A most welcome addition to the liberation forces was the 3rd Royal Marines Commando Brigade, which arrived from Singapore, and they played an invaluable role in maintaining law and order as it was found impossible to use Japanese recruited police because they were ill-trained and unreliable. University students were recruited as police, but they served more as interpreters and police liaison officers with the Chinese population, in which capacity they did excellently. Some Japanese were attacked when they rode on public trams, and there were clashes outside the dockyard, but generally the Japanese withdrawal from the Island was orderly. With the arrival of British troops, Kowloon and New Kowloon were taken over by 5 September. The strongly anti-Japanese guerrillas were still active in Cheung Chau, Tai O, and Silvermine Bay. They also created problems by returning to their villages bringing communist propaganda and generally disturbing the settled traditional village life and customs. In 1 respect, the manner in which liberation had come was a matter of deep relief and thanksgiving, for Hong Kong was spared the military reconquest which had been expected. The Allies feared that the Japanese would hold out to the last with that disciplined defiance and courage of which they had given such convincing proof. The people of occupied Hong Kong, as they watched military fortifications being prepared and Air Raid Precautions (ARP) tunnels extended, had every reason to fear the worst. Allied bombing had already caused heavy casualties and were a foretaste of the death and destruction that an attack on Hong Kong Colony might have brought. From this, Hong Kong was mercifully spared. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1768.jpg |
| Image Size | 217.12 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1213 x 1725 |
| Photographer | Breeze |
| Photographer Title | Royal Air Force Official Photographer |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 2, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | Hong Kong |
| Country | China |
| Archive | Imperial War Museum |
| Record Number | CI 1644 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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