Weekly Review No. 215 - New Zealand Cameraman in Singapore

This 1945 newsreel reports on the repatriation of New Zealand prisoners held in Japanese camps during the war in the Pacific. Cameraman Stan Wemyss (grandfather of Russell Crowe) ranges across Asia with the RNZAF — from Changi in Singapore, to camps in Java (Indonesia), and Siam (Thailand). The narration notes grimly that “the movie camera does not record the stench of death”; and returned PoW, Dr Johns of Auckland, implores for the sake of the children: “that the experiences that we have gone through at the hands of the Japanese shall never, never again be possible.”

We must assure for all time, for the sake of our children and their children, that the experiences that we have gone through at the hands of the Japanese shall never, never again be possible.

– PoW, Dr Johns of Auckland

Key Cast & Crew

Michael Forlong

Writer

Rex Walden

Narrator

Stan Wemyss

Camera

Rudall Hayward

Camera - Dr Johns interview