JAPANESE SECRET POLICE JAILED AT TAIPING, PERAK, MALAYA (30/9/1945)

This film is held by the Imperial War Museum (ID: JFU 358).

Synopsis

162 members of the Kempeitai, the Japanese secret police, are jailed at Taiping in Perak, Malaya.

Column of Japanese marching through Taiping with civilians looking on. A lorry load of Japanese passing with an armed escort walking behind. Civilians watching. The Japanese troops pass under a victory arch marked 'Welcome to the Allied forces'. The marching column seen from a moving jeep. Closer static shot of the column passing. Marching feet. Indian guards passing with the former headquarters of Japanese 29th Army in the background. A lorry leads a column of Japanese with another bringing up the rear. Japanese men debussing. Column marching escorted by Indian troops with fixed bayonets, possibly at Kuala Kangsar. Out of focus wide shot of the column arriving at Taiping jail. The Japanese are marched into the jail at the double. Civilians watching; pan left to Japanese troops being marched at the double. Major-General Kojima getting down from a lorry, with some difficulty, and walking on crutches. Footage from the prison courtyard (?) with Japanese prisoners on parade.

Notes

The Kempeitai were an Imperial Japanese Army gendarmerie with responsibilities for military policing, internal security and (often political) justice. During the war they quickly developed a reputation for brutality and were regarded by the Allies in much the same vein as the Nazis' Gestapo secret police.

The dopesheet identifies the Kempeitai major-general as 'Kojima Masaliari' (and later as the presumably mistyped 'Kasaliari'). However, it seems more likely that this is Major-General Kojima Masanori, Kojima being his family name. Kojima was head of the Kempeitai at 29th Army. His poor physical state was apparently the result of a gunshot wound, but the dopesheet does not describe how he came to be shot.

The cameraman quotes the prison governor's address to these men; 'I am an experienced prison governor and I will stand no nonsense - the first instance of any and I will smarten these men up as they've never been smartened before' and the cameraman adds 'The Japs...looked as though they could do with some of that'.

Latter part of this reel becomes increasingly dark, presumably the result of fading evening light.

 

Titles

  • JAPANESE SECRET POLICE JAILED AT TAIPING, PERAK, MALAYA (30/9/1945) (Allocated)
Series Title:
BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR
 

Technical Data

Year:
1945
Running Time:
4 minutes
Film Gauge (Format):
35mm
Colour:
B&W
Sound:
Silent
Footage:
284 ft
 

Production Credits

Production Countries:
GB
Sponsor
War Office Directorate of Public Relations
cameraman.
Govan, H W (Sergeant)
Production company
SEAC Film Unit
 

Countries

 

Production Organisations