London 1942 (1943)
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- Опубліковано 5 тра 2011
- More from our archives: film.britishcouncil.org/britis...
The British Council Film Collection is an archive of more than 120 short documentary films made by the British Council during the 1940s designed to show the world how Britain lived, worked and played. Preserved by the BFI National Film Archive and digitised by means of a generous donation by Google, the films are now yours to view, to download and to play with for the first time.Chronicling London during the midst of World War II, the film illustrates an essential re-structuring of British society in response to the pressures inflicted upon it.
As much loved landmarks were destroyed and uncertainty engulfed the capital, rather than losing spirit Britain pulled tighter together, turning urban basements into inner-city pig farms to ease the problems of food shortage, and transforming disused roof-top spaces into allotments for growing vegetables and flowers.
All notions of class-related entertainment and social etiquettes were usurped, instead favouring a communal lifting of mood achieved through innovative community schemes including bringing theatre shows into factory canteens and standardizing food prices in the eateries around the city.
As the film claims, even the ordinary citizen was willing to do their bit in order to secure a world 'free from want and fear'.
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It's very fashionable these days to put down patriotic films like these, but I find them inspiring and heartwarming. They show the deep feeling of pride people had in their country during difficult times.
Amen to that!
C´mon, you'd be suicidal after watching that entertainment at 8:43
You're looking at history as it happened. Anybody who laughs at it and puts it down is one day going to experience it. Remember they sneer because it's something they have no knowledge of and they can't sound superior.
I’d like to get hold of all these fashionistas,and give them a couple of years experiencing the trauma that our nation endured during this terrible conflict! That would wipe the smug condescension off their faces! That includes all those Woke Bastards currently trying to undermine and wreck our society! 😡😡😡😡😡
@@vivo-audio If you lived then you would have different view.
I cannot believe but my father actually appears in the film - he is the closest to the camera of the two soldiers from the search-light battery digging. Absolutely fantastic, I have picture of him and the searchlight - great these films still exist and are on record.
i always wondered if somebody was watching these films and reconised themselves or someone of the family great for you something you can watch over again to remember him.my nan used to work on searcglights and one night on her way to a cinema just as she crossed the road to the cafe a bomb fell on the cinema.very lucky escape.
The parents of a good friend met when her father rescued her mother from the rubble of a bombed building in London.
I’m going Ray Willmott Tinto Brass was a
tinto
Ray Willmott
DP
WOW
My dad fought in WW2 and my mum was left at home on her own with twin babies. No benefits or hand outs, just a meagre army wage. Hiding under the table with two little babies as bombs dropped all around. Now thats having to rough it, they were strong and very brave back then
i WAS ONE IN 1942, WHEN THIS FILM WAS MADE. MYDAD WAS IN THE ARMY TOO, MOM HAD 2 BABIES ,PLUS 3 TODDLER'S FROM DADS PREVIOUS DECEASED WIFE.
families all had it hard during the war and for many years there after
@@Headwind-1 THATS RIGHT, SOME RATIONING CARRIED ON AFTER THE WAR, TILL 1954, AND EVEN SOME THINGS LIKE BREAD, WHICH WEREN'T RATIONED DURING THE WAR.
that’s when England was England
Now it's just a big Isle of Wight without the glamour !
And America was America. From the States here. Wish we could bring these times back!
Only just discovered these wonderful films. What a fantastic legacy they are. Long may they continue.
Funny how, in the middle of a war, with bomb damage all round it still looks nicer, neater and more civilised than it does now. Sigh.
Those wartime pictures were a bit mendacious in making it look as everyone was pitching in and working together.
Officialdom was every bit as mendacious as its German opposite number: it still is mendacious to those who expect to get the truth from it.
What brave and wonderful people they were.
Couldn't help noticing a famous face in this. The singer in the works canteen and later, in uniform in the theatre was none other than Bill Owen. Known eternally now for "Compo" in last of the summer wine. 😊
Pleased you noticed too
I was born 2 years after the war my dad was a navy man but wouldn't talk of the battles god bless all who fought for our freedom
---- and now are freedoms are being given away to people who have contributed nothing to this country.
@@davidockley2987 " have been "
Absolutely brilliant and great footage of the old Lady of England 🇬🇧🏴🇬🇧🏴🇬🇧🏴🇬🇧🏴🇬🇧
I'm just wondered for these British Council films brought up from the 30's and the 40's. Evry educational and cultural. I'm learning a lot about UK life in the first half of the 20th. century. Thanks a lot!!! I'm Brazilian but a British culture lover!!
I am glad you are enjoying it, us Brits are not allowed to, we get called nazis, fascists and racists if we do.
I am from Uruguay. Thanks for this excellent video. British Council also sponsored British institutions here, such as the Anglo-Uruguayan Cultural Institute, where I learned to speak English in the sixties. That enabled me to find a good job in an international airline !
Nice to see Compo as a young wartime entertainer in 2 clips ! 😊
Young? Bill Owen was 28 in 1942 (Full name William John Owen Rowbotham) Wikipedia says he was in the army but was injured in training. Maybe he was discharged and returned to be an entertainer. He also wrote songs so maybe he was singing his own composition. Instantly recognisable though.
I may sound biased but in my Opinion British/English People are UNIQUE 💐
Love the scene of Trafalgar Square with the outdoor concert. I sat at that very place only a few months ago on a trip to that great city of London. It's interesting to realize that thousands of people have enjoyed that wondeful public space for many generations.
WOW What memories , I was making Sten Guns at Samuel Jones in Camberwell Green, and getting Under the bench when the Spotter on the roof said Planes over head Lie Down. we did so, But that was our life then, we were scared , but carried on!
I remember Samuel Jones. with the Camberwell Beauty butterfly sign
We thank you for your service!
Thank you for your service 🙏❤️
Bless you and thank you.
Directed by the legendary English director Ken Annakin, who later directed "The Longest Day", "The Battle of the Bulge", and several Disney classics, "Swiss Family Robinson", "Third Man on the Mountain", and others!
I'm Irish but I've always admired what Britain brought to world. Yes we can all whinge about the past injustices... But look what they contributed in the arts, science and engineering.
Women worked very hard while the men were out to war, tough times for all.
AND THEY QUEUED FOR HOURS FOR FOOD AND ANYTHING USEFUL. OFTEN THEY'D JUST QUEUE , NOT KNOWING WHAT WAS FOR SALE, OR, BY THE TIME THEY REACHED THE COUNTER, THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT.
Despite the amount of bomb damage it's amazing how much of London survived.
***** What in all of the fucks.
*****
Wrong room, fella. The imbecile convention is the last door on the right.
*****
Oh dear...
That was awesome and it was also awesome to see Bill Owen in the theatre great guy :D thumbs up by the way
Its heartbreaking to see what was when you compare it to today.
Love British Council
I was only a little boy then, but when I was learning to fly back in 1969 an Ex German bomber pilot was my teacher. Small world.
I'm 75 & American, I always sat that old enemies make the best allies -- let's hope that holds true in the future.
I would have been 2 or 3 years old. but not in London, we were in southampton, which took a real pasting, because of the docks.
If it wasn't for them wonderful lady's and gentlemen of the war I wouldn't be here today typing this message so thank you for your services
You probably would but speaking German as your first language.
@Manny D Did I say that there was anything wrong with being German? How did you deduce that?
@Manny D A new German country that was built on multi billion pound hand outs from the UK and USA at the end of Ww2 so that they can rebuild their industries with modern tooling and equipment to restart their economy! All at the same time the UKs industry fell into disrepute and the country remained in rationing for many years post war!
@Manny D very articulate 🙄
@@aljack1979 More likely Russian, they were well on the way to steamrollering across Europe at the time.
Nice to see the Queen Mother again, brought back memories.
And they didn't even shut the pubs..........
They were an "essential service".
Interesting film from war time London!
It's interesting how roof gardens have come back into service with the high cost of food these days, even in America.
Actually we pay much less of our income today on food than in the past.
The Year I was born nice to see what was happening in that year 1942
Me too - small world! Great propaganda film - hardly showed any of the many bomb-sites
Me also 1942 its very sugery, not the reality
Does not show the massive destruction...
Looks like summer, so I wasn't quite one yet, but I remember it well---
You old git !
When the whole country got behind the whole country - very difficult to imagine that kind of British solidarity now.
The late great Bill Owen (Compo) at 8.56.
I'd like all of the cynics to compare these films with contemporary Nazi films.
Ask yourself- which illusion was more worthy of preserving, fighting for, and dying for?
If the answer isn't obvious to you, then some lessons in Ethics, Logic and History would serve you well.
but would they still be able to comprehend ? Naaaagh !!
So...which is the economically stronger country today, with a better lifestyle....England or Germany?
Remember those nights, mom used to wake me and carry me down the shelter, dad was a fireman , every night that happened.
lying in the middle of a large bed (in York), me being 2yo. I was gathered up, and a voice said "where's his mum? another voice said "She's down the pub" I was carried down in to a dark cellar.
"Mom"? You're not British.
@@williamstephens9945 I bet I'm more British than you. ask MUM
@@williamstephens9945 Dialect. I suspect West Midlands.
WOW !! at 8:59 into this video doing the stage entertainment - - "BILL OWEN" - - otherwise known as "COMPO" from Last of the Summer Wine. He was 29 years old here.
resculptit At 12:00 he is again on stage singing - wearing a military uniform. Owen served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during World War II, where he was injured in an explosion in action.
A pride in personal appearance an important feature .!.
Not like the shabby work-shy of nowadays, sadly
The Beveridge plan for state welfare would not be so generous in those days.@@markcundiff3992
Fantastic I love this 👍
If Britain had succumbed in the Summer and Fall of 1940 (as it had every reason to--fighting the war alone and against great odds), then there would have been a far different Britain then depicted here. But thanks to the valiant people, with encouragement from a bulldog leader, she persevered. Eventually becoming host to a massive troop deployment. That eventually invaded and retook Europe. Crushing the Nazi empire in less than a year. (Just an observation from an American cousin).
Quite agree, but Britain was not alone in 1940, Canada, Australia, India with its massive volunteer Army, along with New Zealand East and West Africa, South Africa, the British West Indies whose citizens played a significant role in the RAF all were with Britain. We British should always remember and be infinitely grateful.
@@almacmathain6195 With regard to the attacks on Britain by the Luftwaffe, which went on well beyond 1940, by the way, Britain was alone to all intents and purposes - some other nationalities played a role in the RAF as you say, but the vast range of forces you mention were irrelevant to that particular struggle, which was, in a sense, local.
it was Russia who defeated the nazis,
British and the french along with belgium l lost at Dunkirk
@@edwardkerrigan5356 OK Edward, next time we'll stay at home.
@@edwardkerrigan5356 Don't forget the Polish RAF Fighter squadrons that fought in the Battle of Britain they were the highest scoring of all the Fighter squadrons , go and visit the Polish Air Force Memorial at Northolt .
at 2:23 the grim scene of the area around St. Paul's Cathedral, with many buildings destroyed
www.soccerbase.com/results/home.sd www.soccerbase.com/results/home.sd www.soccerbase.com/results/home.sd
Now that WAS a miracle, how the hell did St Pauls survive?? just like the massive Calogne cathderal did, despite being surrounded by UTTER DESTRUCTION.
Yes, that scene was a very important one. Not much footage of that area
@@MrDaiseymay The Fire service put a ring of water around St Paul's as it resembled hope and faith of Morale to the English people which the Luftwaffe was to demoralise the English to Surrender.
The Luftwaffe bombed the docks but also aimed at the Houses of Parliament, St Paul's Cathedral and I think Buckingham Palace got hit too.
There is a map of London somewhere on the Internet of what incendries and bombs were dropped on London and to actually see the firestorm ring is insane.
Aldersgate and Cripplgate were flattened except for The Fire Station and Whitbread Brewery. It became The Barbican - the world’s most expensive Social Housing.
Bill Owen lived in our street Vorley Road,Archway..
I also lived in Vorley Rd. Archway from 1943 to 1948. Went St Josephs School ,hated it.
Also lived in 50a Macdonald Road around the corner to Vorley Road.
In 1944 when the flying bombs came used to go to Archway underground station with my Mum & little baby brother Tony.
Victor Hunt n
Did you ever talk to Bill?
Much the same as we had at the same time, in Sydney, Australia. And I'm sure everywhere else. I was 9 yeas old then.
AND THIS WAS LONDON AT WAR
8.56 shows actor Bill Rowbotham, later better known as 'Bill Owen' who became a hit into the 1990s on British television.
Those "bone spurs"
Great BC.....,Thankyou for posting.
That was a young Bill Owen [ Compo] On Stage as a soldier , at the end of the film.
0.48 The lamp on the road works. Not even the bullseye lamps that I grew up with, I'd love to see how the light was muted to meet blackout regulations.
My Mom🙏🙏was 16 in 1942 in Birmingham
When she left school aged 14 in 1940 she went to work for Wilmot-Breeden makers of the Calometer for cars I think but then started making parts for the super marine spitfire
My mom said it was a great time for her and her friends
Everyone got together
You could leave your back door open as no one had anything to steal.
🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴❤️❤️❤️❤️
I wondered if people would be able to cope these days.
I believe at Frames 9:01 and 11:58 we see actor Bill Owen on stage, later to become famous as Compo in "The Last of the Summer Wine"
loved that. Hate war but when it came to it everyone stuck together. Cant see that ever happening again. So sad to see how Britain has changed, and not for the good.
I like ,thank you
as of June 2021 57 thumbs down, the Guardian reading lefties maybe. This film is heart warming.. What the fuck has happened in the last 20 years ? Social media ..
Demography change, removal of the gold standard by the Americans, a crap ton of influential stuff, most of it not positive.
you will not come across these type of people gain there is no britain now
Yep it's Brexshit Little britain
Dir Ken Annakin of Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, and Monte Carlo or Bust fame!
And our favourite, Disney's "Swiss Family Robinson"!
Bill Owen appears on stage singing a wartime song during this film.
Fantastic
Elizabeth 1926-2022.
Sweet voice of Eric Idle
Bill Compo Owen at 8.56 and 12.00... At least.
A fine film.
Very interesting!
8.55 Bill Owen who played Compo in Last of the summer wine and was also in films throughout the 1950s to 1970s.
More respect for authority then.. Downing Street was not fenced off...
Looks like a young Bill Owen from Last of the Summer Wine in some of the shots....at 12.08 and others...???
Brilliant
Square Mile Bobbies. City of London Police 1839-1949.
Interesting
Soon our American buddies would be a regular fixture, thank goodness !'
Bill Owen AKA Compo from last of the summer wine singing away at 1200 mins. I wonder if he was a member of ENSA?
Bill Owen at 11:59?
When London was still British
And, as the film points out, full of people from other places and in other uniforms.
@@philroberts7238 True? but they WERE NOT MEANT TO STAY
It's not located in Britain anymore?
@@kindnessfirst9670 No, the Russkis bought the whole town!
@@kindnessfirst9670 it’s a ‘world city’ now as is New York, Paris, Sydney, Toronto… indeed all the thriving metropolises
Wonderful film thanks for showing. 19 thumbs down what's. All. That about.
That's the thumbs down from the losing side!
Wow.
Hard to imagine England, a mere 80 years ago, was such a functional and safe (aside from foreign bombs of course) society. Who in their right mind would have thought it a good idea to dilute and destroy that culture? It was NOT done by mistake, nobody is that stoopid.
Ruins are great for kids to play in
Compo- young Bill Owen at 8.58
*Some of these films have now been restored and colorized. See this channel* :
ua-cam.com/video/kTmfjjzQZcw/v-deo.html
I was 2 years old.
What's with the 240P max res FFS? o.O !!!!
oh, Dad's army!
А у нас ,в это время такооое месиво было!!!!!!
St James's Palace.
No dry eye in the gouse!
Bill Owen got two snatches in the camera while perfoming.
I'm sure we all have a lot to thank for these people not running away from the horrors of war. No complaining about not being able to go on holiday, not like these covid wimps today, '' I can't go to the pub" moan moan moan
9:56 ❤
Me enamore 😮
¿Dónde encuentro además de Londres mujeres así, VALEN ORO, nonono... D I A M A N T E S❤❤❤❤❤
UNDER NELSONS COLUMN AT TRAFALGOR SQUARE
I can remember communal nurseries , I hated it.
So do I. but it was 1946, and I was too OLD, to join them. but I came accross the tots sleeping on Army style Bunk beds, in rows and rows. The room had half closed shutter's , and I couldn't understand why they were all asleep in the middle of the afternoon. will never forget.
Bm...........before muslims...........
before the windrush who literally killed off the UK in 1948.
London ended up being over run anyway. Sad.
Oh off
so sad :(
Unbelievable how St Paul’s stood only slightly damaged in the midst of blitz devastation. By 1942 there was a lull from the bombing whilst the Germans concentrated on Russia and North Africa but it was to recommence in 1944 with the terror of the flying bombs (aka doodlebugs). Londoners were by and large incredibly stoical
THE QUEEN SENT ME REGARDS
what did they look like?
The Queen sends me regards too, we've actually spoken on the phone
'a world freed from want and fear' ??
1942 my birth year👍👍
I thought the majority of children where sent out of London for safety ? dont appear so in this film
I did not get sent out of London, and still remember a doodlebug flying over our house in Barking.
They were sent away very early, and, since the expected raids didn't at first materialise many went home again. I went away and got back just in time for the Blitz.
A lot of parents brought their children back home because, contrary to popular belief, a lot of children were not treated well.
Buckingham Palace.
The people did all this. They farmed,they fought,made arms, worked in fields and mines to defend and support their fellows. Today there are many who balk at wearing masks to prevent Covid! "Rights" are demanded but responsibility is left for others.
We didn't wear masks and had no lockdown in the late 60's when the Hong Kong flu killed 80000 in Britain. These people wouldn't have batted an eyelid at covid.
@@peteg8920 Try 200,000 and counting! And check old photos and newspaper accounts of the same period in the US--there were people locked into their homes and no one allowed outside without masks. Those photos can't all be FAKE NEWS. Goodbye.
@@marshallsuber3346 l was in my early teens in the late 60's in England. I got the flu myself. It was not even a regular news topic and we had no lockdown in any shape or form in England. The people who governed our country then had gone through two world wars and the thought of a lockdown would not even have crossed their minds.
I would happily wear a mask if I thought it was of any use, but it isn't - they have a detrimental effect in fact.
@@edwardkerrigan5356 I'm glad of your medical knowledge. I guess 99 out of 100 doctors have their collective heads up their ass. Don't even bother to reply. Your knowledge must be God given. Be safe.
We seem to have lost community sing-a-longs. That is a shame.
Does not look like England at war but a funfair !