Freed Allied prisoners of war, released from Japanese captivity at Changi Jail in Singapore, are evacuated by hospital ship.

Crowd of freed prisoners of war at Changi jail with waiting car in foreground. Reverse angle with waiting men. Waiting cars with doors open. Stretchers are loaded into an ambulance. Men waiting to board a lorry. Closer shot of men waiting. Lorries arriving at the docks with a hospital ship in the background. View looking down on men dismounting from a lorry. Men are helped up a gangway. One man is carried piggyback up the gangway. Men up the gangway. Two men watch ambulances pass. Stretchers are unloaded from an ambulance. A British nurse of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry passes cups of tea to men in the back of an ambulance. Stretchers unloaded. Stretcher cases carried into a building with various chalk markings (see note). Stretcher carried up the gangway; the patient is holding a framed photograph of a woman. Stretchers unloaded from jeep. View from aboard the ship with stretchers coming onboard. Stretchers up gangway. Lorries on the dockside; a FANY mobile canteen can be seen in the distance. More stretchers up gangway.

Notes

According to the official history, by the end of September South East Asia Command had evacuated 53,700 prisoners of war and internees, rising to 71,000 by the end of October and 96,575 by May 1946. The majority of these were evacuated by sea from Singapore, as seen in this film.

The hospital ship is possibly HMHS Amarapoora, but this is speculative.

The chalk inscription on the doorway are seen in various shots and together read as follows: 'Welcome from HMS Sussex' and 'Entrance' on one side and 'Sussex Grand Cinema show' and 'Come and see Blighty' on the other. Though it is not apparent in this film, the heavy cruiser HMS Sussex was berthed nearby and in addition to running this dockside film show (presumably showing some sort of current newsreel from Britain) had recently held an open day for freed prisoners of war and internees. See also JFU 333 and JFU 334.

Also filmed by Sergeant MacTavish . See related items.