How We Fought the Emden explained

How We Fought the Emden
Director:Charles Cusden
Cinematography:Charles Cusden
Studio:Cocos Island Syndicate
Language:Silent film
English intertitles
Country:Australia

How We Fought the Emden is a 1915 Australian silent documentary film from cinematographer Charles Cusden about the Battle of Cocos during World War I, where the Australian ship Sydney sunk the Emden.[1] [2]

It was also known as The Fate of the Emden.[3]

The documentary includes pictures of the Emden and her officers prior to the engagement, the Sydney, her commander (Captain Glossop), officers and crew, the wireless station, the operator who sent the message that brought out the Sydney. [4]

Production

In March 1915, members of the Millions Club in Sydney formed a Cocos Island Syndicate and organised an expedition to make a film about the defeat of the Emden during the Battle of Cocos. Cinematographer Charles Cusden sailed to the island on the SS Hanley and shot about of film in and around the battered ship, which had been beached on North Keeling Island.[5] [6]

Cusden returned to Sydney on 26 May 1915.[7]

Release

The film debuted at the Strand cinema in Sydney in June 1915. Relics of the Emden had been brought back and were displayed at the cinema. This run was well received.[8]

The film screened throughout Australia as Fate of the Emden.[9]

The film screened on a program of war pictures in Adelaide in 1916 as How We Fought the Emden.[10]

Footage from the movie was later incorporated into the films How We Beat the Emden (1915) and For the Honour of Australia (1916).[11]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: "WORLD WAR." . . 7 . 1924 . South Australia . 20 May 1916 . 30 April 2024 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
  2. News: AMUSEMENTS. . The Advertiser . LVIII . 17,975 . South Australia . 24 May 1916 . 30 April 2024 . 9 . National Library of Australia.
  3. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 56
  4. News: FATE OF THE EMDEN . The Sun . 637 . New South Wales, Australia . 13 June 1915 . 30 April 2024 . 15 . National Library of Australia.
  5. News: NEWS AND NOTES. . . Perth . 19 May 1915 . 13 June 2012 . 6 . National Library of Australia.
  6. News: Advertising. . . Adelaide . 13 May 1916 . 13 June 2012 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
  7. News: SALVAGE OF THE EMDEN . Daily Herald . 6 . 1617 . South Australia . 28 May 1915 . 30 April 2024 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
  8. News: STRAND PICTURES . The Sun . 638 . New South Wales, Australia . 20 June 1915 . 30 April 2024 . 11 . National Library of Australia.
  9. News: STRAND PICTURES. . . 814 . Queensland, Australia . 11 August 1915 . 30 April 2024 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
  10. News: Advertising . . 4 . 209 . South Australia . 13 May 1916 . 30 April 2024 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
  11. http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/for-the-honour-of-australia/notes/ Paul Byrnes, For the Honour of Australia