Detail

Theme Wartime and Military

Films of war-time in the archive begin with images of the First World War on the home front. The archive holds footage of women taking up heavy farm work as part of the war effort in Surrey in 1914. The archive also holds newsreel footage of Sussex regiments on the move and demonstrating their skills at the start of the First World War. Film of the Royal Sussex Regiment across several decades is held in the archive and its history takes us through two World Wars and post-war postings to locations such as India, Korea and Belfast, as well as film of training, events and parades.

Film of the Second World War includes family films, civil defence training films, work on the home front, and war-time events. Preparations prior to the war can be witnessed in film calling for greater production of arms from industry and film of aircraft inspections and testing. During the war, many families continued to record their lives, despite the war-time restrictions on availability and use of cine film. These films illustrate how the every-day lives of people in Surrey, Sussex and Kent were affected by war-time changes - the introduction of ration books and black-out blinds; family members taking up roles in the armed forces and in auxiliary services; building and taking refuge in air raid shelters; and witnessing the effects of bombing raids first hand. The strengthening of community life and community activities is also visible through films of town fund raising and other community activities.

The role of the Home Guard, land girls and other auxiliary services is also strongly represented in the archive. The Home Guard in the Southern Counties represented the front line of ground defence for the UK and their training reflected some of the ingenuity required to defend the land with limited resources. Home Guard training films illustrate many of the tactics used by Civil Defence volunteers to arm and protect the region. Local schools also had to practice their drill for air raids and film again is used effectively as an instructional tool and a reference. The work of hospitals and medical services is covered in a number of films in the archive, including pioneering plastic surgery at East Grinstead hospital.

At the end of the war, VE day celebrations, victory parades and memorial services mark some of the collective responses of the region's communities to the end of conflict. Beyond this, signs of post-war reconstruction can also be witnessed through film in the archive such as the development of Crawley New Town. Some of the latest additions to the archive begin to explore the personal reminiscences of those reviewing their war-time experiences at a time when those memories are fading and the numbers of those who witnessed war-time first-hand are declining fast.

Films in this theme:

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Showing 1 to 15 of 201 results.

Technical Training of Rescue Parties

Date	1943	ID	907

Ministry of Home Security Training Film

[Military March] or [Fire Brigade Turn-out in the Country]

Date	[1899?]	ID	8419

The 12th Infantry Brigade march from Dover to Arundel in this film by Charles Goodwin Norton of 1899.

Cycle Corps

Date	[1899 -1909?]	ID	8435

A cycle corps are filmed during shooting practice by Charles Goodwin Norton.

Attack on a China Mission (Bluejackets to the Rescue)

Date	1900	ID	8382

A shoot out between Boxers and a missionary's rescuers is the subject of this film by James Williamson, produced in 1900.

The Soldier Returns

Date	1902	ID	8387

A soldier retrieves his mother from the poor house when he returns from the Boer War in this positive depiction of postwar experience by James Williamson.

A Reservist, Before the War, and After the War

Date	1902	ID	8388

In this 1902 film by James Williamson, poverty and desperation is associated with a reservist's war service in the Boer War.

[East Grinstead Local Scenes; Remembrance Day]

Date	[1913-1922]	ID	2194

The first part is a short news item from the early 1910s showing general street scenes in East Grinstead, a parade and the East Grinstead Urban District Council Fire Brigade Sports. The second part, from 1922, shows the train station and the arrival of the North Somerset Yeomanry in the town with a parade of local regiments.

[East Grinstead Local Scenes; Remembrance Day]

Date	[1913-1922]	ID	12535

Southdown Fighters - The 1st Southdown Battalion

Date	19th November 1914	ID	3074

Two Gaumont Graphic newsreel segments are taken from their issue no. 382, from the 19th November 1914. They show the newly recruited 1st Southdown Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment at Eastbourne Station followed by footage of trenches entitled 'The fight for Dixmude'.

[Christmas Shopping]; Surrey Women War Workers; The Path of Duty was the Path of Glory

Date	1922; 1917; 1914	ID	1291

A compilation of three separate films made in or near Godalming, Surrey during the early twentieth century. The first shows shoppers on the busy High Street in Godalming, the second shows women from the newly established Women's Land Army in 1917 demonstrating ploughing skills, and the third shows a memorial commemorating RMS Titanic’s Chief Radio Telegraphist.

First World War Centenary

Date	October 2018	ID	13722

A programme of archive film to mark 100 years since the end of the First World War. This was screened at venues across East and West Sussex in October and November 2018.

The 5th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment at the Tower of London

Date	1915	ID	3075

This film records The 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment performing various drills outside the Tower of London in 1915. The Battalion, which was formed of territorials from East Sussex, was posted to the Tower of London in October 1914 where it undertook the duties of a Guards Battalion. The Battalion joined the Front Line shortly after this newsreel was made.

[WWI Royal Flying Corps Training Film]

Date	[ca. 1917]	ID	4144

Part of a First World War era training film for the Royal Flying Corps. Showing how the British forces could gain tactical advantage through concealment of ground troops and the use of air reconnaissance.

[The Indian Hospital, Royal Visit to Royal Pavilion Hospital, Brighton]

Date	1915	ID	8433

King George V and Queen Mary visit the Royal Pavilion, where wounded Indian soldiers inhabit the temporary hospital.

[Bognor Day Trippers; Trooping the Colour]

Date	[ca. 1920s]	ID	8183

A short film made by members of the Bognor Regis Film Society during the 1920s. The first part shows day-trippers visiting Bognor Regis and the second part features scenes of Trooping the Colour in London.

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Showing 1 to 15 of 201 results.