This classic photograph taken on Waikiki Beach during WWII features Duke Kahanamoku and others displaying trophies while apparently promoting an upcoming surfing or paddling competition.

It was among the old photos and clippings in my father’s collection, which I spent more time sorting through yesterday. Now I’ll have to go back and search out the clippings describing the event, which I’m pretty sure are in an unsorted tray of clips now yellowed with age.

[Note: I found an undated photo clipped from the Star-Bulletin which shows people on Waikiki Beach.

The caption: “Part of the crowd that thronged at Waikiki Beach Saturday afternoon for the aquatic sports celebrating Kamehameha Day appear in this picture. Waikiki Surf Club won the aquafest with 22 points, followed by Hui Nalu and Outrigger Canoe clubs.”

But that can’t be referring to the same 1944 event, because the Waikiki Surf Club wasn’t organized until several years later.

In any case, the photograph was taken by a U.S. Army Signal Corps photographer under the authority of the commanding general at Fort Shafter, and cleared by military censors for public release, according to a stamp on the back. This appears to place it during the period of martial law in Hawaii, which extended from December 7, 1941 through late 1944.

Note the barbed wire fencing in the background, the only visible sign of the wartime conditions.

Monday, August 24, would have been Duke’s 109th birthday.