the scene in the old government house hotel could not be further removed from the horrors of war .
there is a soft swell of conversation as afternoon tea is served , a clink of cutlery on crockery , the discreet burble of tea being poured into china cups that the islands have never before combined to stage a big event .
by april 1945 , they would have been wearing sour expressions as the tide of conflict turned back on berlin .