In December 1945, the Military History Section was offered five wooden cases, containing reels of Japanese film, captured by Australian forces at Sulawesi (Celebes), an Indonesian island east of Borneo.
In December 1945 the Military History Section at Army Headquarters in Melbourne was offered five wooden cases, containing 256 1,000-foot reels of Japanese film, captured by Australian forces at Menado in the Celebes, Indonesia. Few of the films were newsreels, to the disappointment of John Treloar, then head of the Military History Section; but yes, he would like them. He encouraged further inspection of the material before the costly transfer back to Australia. Film was classified as hazardous cargo, as it could ignite, and was thus expensive to ship.
Owing to the hot and humid conditions in Menado, many of the films had deteriorated and had to be destroyed. By late February 1946, the remaining 92 reels of film “in pretty bad condition”, wrapped in waterproof paper, arrived in Sydney aboard the Winchester Victory. The reels were separated into documentaries, features (or part thereof) and newsreels, and were classified as being in either good or fair condition – with a handful more being unusable. All the films had soundtracks; many of the titles and voice-overs seemed to be in Indonesian; and some footage was of German origin.
Extracts from Japanese newsreels
[Indonesian narration and inter-titles]
It was not until October 1948 that the collection was accessioned more formally into the Memorial’s collection. A number of films were of interest, with subjects including American prisoners of war, footage of Singapore, and speeches by high-ranking Japanese officials. The collection lay dormant till 1962, when the sizeable holdings of film, a notoriously difficult and expensive format to maintain, were reviewed and much had to be deaccessioned.
One of the targeted areas was captured footage; so of the Menado force haul, less than 30 reels were retained. But these provide a window into Japan’s propaganda of the time, directed at both its own and its conquered peoples. The films include stunning footage of training drills and exercises being done by Japanese children; Japanese cycling units in action; dignitaries delivering rousing speeches; and a copy of the iconic German film Uncle Krüger with Japanese subtitles. Though a mere 11 per cent of the original find could be retained, this collection highlights the fragile, complex and inherently impermanent nature of archival film.
