Before the formal Japanese surrender ceremony in Singapore, surrendered Japanese troops clean up the city while freed Allied prisoners and local civilians look on.

Wide shot showing large group of surrendered Japanese on an open field with motor transport behind. A man at the front of the group possibly an officer, sheathes a sword. View of Japanese troops resting on the Padang, a green space in the heart of Singapore's government district; the Municipal Building can be seen in the background and civilians watch in the foreground. Japanese troops resting with an Indian soldier in the foreground. Civilians looking on. Japanese troops at work. Japanese troops working with British ex-prisoners of war watching; a Union flag flies at the flagstaff of the Municipal Building in the background.

Notes

Given that the loss of Singapore in 1942 had delivered a probably incalculable blow to British imperial prestige, there was a political necessity to humiliate surrendered Japanese personnel in public with menial work such as this.