A British Naval Officers' Photo Album

This photo album belonged to an anonymous British naval officer who travelled around Japan aboard the HMS Glenearn (1938-1945). The album was closely guarded by the officer's family and is now on display for the first time after eighty years. Photographs include rare images that document the wreckage from the Hiroshima bombing—likely taken several months after the event—as well as images of Mt Fuji, Itsukushima Shrine (near Hiroshima), Japanese geisha girls, and a Japanese movie star.

The HMS Glenearn served in British Navy during World War II, first as a fleet supply ship and then as a landing ship. It took part in the D-Day Allied Forces landing in Normandy, France (6th June 1944), and was subsequently sent to the Eastern Mediterranean. The ship eventually sailed to the Pacific Theatre, operating between New Guinea and the Philippines. After the war ended, the HMS Glenearn carried POWs and military officers back to Hong Kong and Colombo, and then sailed to Japan. Some of the photos in the officer's album depict port cities visited during this voyage.

When the HMS Glenearn stopped at the port of Kure, near Hiroshima, the owner of the album took numerous photos documenting the atomic bomb's destruction. These photos were likely taken several months after the bombing.