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Life Under Fire

The horror of Luftwaffe bombs coloured daily life in Britain's cities and beyond, and war brought myriad daily hardships besides. But Britain could take it!

The Blitz receded after May 1941, but even after the Battle of Britain, the nation faced a barrage of incendiary bombs, V-1s and V-2s. While young men fought Axis powers across three continents, their families listened anxiously to the wireless, while many worried too about children far from home. But in the face of the destruction, sirens, blackouts and hours in shelters, the now-legendary 'Blitz spirit' kept despair at bay. Britain held her nerve thanks to mutual support, defiance and wit - plus a good grumble and as many cups of tea as rationing allowed.

43 videos in this collection

Sweet and touching wartime cinema appeal for 300,000 London children spending Christmas far from home.

Keep Them Safe, Keep Them Happy

  • Norwich
  • 1939
Matter-of-fact wartime instruction in how to fit your gas mask efficiently - leaving no margin for error.

How to Fit a Gas Mask

  • 1939
An indefatigable district nurse crisscrosses her rural patch to tend to the sick at home and on the farm.

The District Nurse

  • 1942
The face mask comes of age in this intriguing wartime guide to germ prevention.

A-tish-oo!

  • 1941
Stirring portrait of London in autumn 1941- its streets and monuments battle-scarred, but its spirit intact.

London Autumn 1941

  • 1941
Step into the aftermath of a WWII bombing raid in south London in this startling amateur film.

Bombed Out

  • Southwark
  • 1945
The young, old and infirm are evacuated from Blitz-hit cities in this moving testament to Britain's wartime organisational prowess.

Health in War

  • 1940
While Jack Crawford is serving at sea his pregnant wife Alice has access to all the care she needs at the local North London welfare centre.

Mother and Child

  • 1940
Humphrey Jennings and Stewart McAllister's masterly collage of the various people and classes of Britain - at home and at work, at war and at peace - is one of the great films of war-time Britain.

Listen to Britain

  • 1942
The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds (1940s-style) at a nursery in Guildford.

Double Thread

  • Guildford
  • 1943
Barclays Bank's London HQ adapts to wartime banking, as a keen amateur filmmaker records staff at work, rest and play.

Carry On Lombard Street

  • City of London
  • 1941

Food for Thought

  • 1940
A glamorous young student nurse charms patients and staff alike as she sails through her training.

Hospital Nurse

  • 1941
Britain for beginners... or Americans, at least. An information film explaining the wonders of Britain to new American arrivals during WWII.

A Welcome to Britain

  • 1943
Wartime meals-on-wheels and some rare snapshots of the bomb-damaged Georgian terraces of Dix's Field, Exeter.

Exeter after the Blitz

  • Exeter
  • 1942
"A bomb's cut the gas off. Where can we get a meal?" Look no further than the Friends Relief Service.

What Is One among So Many?

  • 1943
An American G.I. learns how to brew a proper English cuppa in this jolly wartime ad for Maypole tea.

U.S. And Us

  • 1943
Cockney kids learn road sense the fun way in an entertaining and surprising wartime safety film.

A Ride with Uncle Joe

  • 1943
Cheeky comic Arthur Askey advocates safe sneezing into a handkerchief to stop the spread of germs.

The Nose Has It!

  • 1942
Pianists Charlie Kunz and Mark Hambourg tickle the ivories for our entertainment in this jolly musical short.

Twinkling Fingers

  • 1940
Following one family from 1944 till after the war, this film tells the story of the women who worked to keep the home fires burning - not to mention cleaning the grates, darning socks, feeding a houseful on rations and waving off the uniformed heroes with a brave smile. It's an affecting and affectionate tribute to the vital role women played ensuring that husbands, sons and daughters had something to come home to.

The Weaker Sex

  • 1948
The 137th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery in training at Hurst Park in the early days of WWII

Special! With Farnham's Own Anti-Aircraft Battery in Training - Somewhere in England

  • 1940
Personal stories from the Londoners who rely on a successful and reliable transport system

The Big City

  • Westminster
  • 1940

Scabies

  • 1943
This morale-boosting variety extravaganza – filled with radio personality Carroll Levis' discoveries - is like a wartime Britain's Got Talent.

Discoveries

  • Highbury
  • 1939
A curious blue lake, a wonder tablet, a river boat and a picnic essential - sounds like the beginning of a story!

Signs of the Times No.58

  • 1941
The key word in the book of fashion is simplicity

Sketchbook of Fashion (Knights Castile Advert)

  • 1940

Cabaret

  • 1945

Elopement in France

  • 1944

Quiz-Crime No. 2

  • 1944

Swing-o-nometry

  • 1943
St Dunstan's Charity in Church Stretton assists those who've lost their sight to become "self-supporting citizens"

Lift the Blackout

  • Church Stretton
  • 1941

National Fire Service

  • 1944
Woking's AFS demonstrates its fire-fighting skills in a colourful competition held in 1940 followed by slumbering firemen leaping into action when duty calls.

Auxiliary Fire Service in Walton on Thames

  • Walton-on-Thames
  • 1940
Brighton suffers in this sensational colour film showing the effects of the Luftwaffe's devastating raids on the seaside town.

Brighton's Blitz

  • Brighton
  • 1940
As the last months of peace pass quickly by, Canterbury's firemen gear up for the war to come.

Canterbury 1939 to 1940

  • Canterbury
  • 1939
Leatherhead applauds and thanks its Civil Defence Service volunteers for their sterling efforts, in this fascinating film made during the last months of the Second World War.

Civilians in Uniform

  • Leatherhead
  • 1946
Members of Herne Bay's First Aid Posts gear up for gas-attack casualties in this remarkable film, which also features a visit to the deep tunnel shelters in the cliffs of Ramsgate.

Evacuees and ARP Training exercises

  • Herne Bay
  • 1939
Life in Broadwater seems unaffected by the war in this film - especially when friends and relations drop by - though a closer look reveals that all is not quite what it seems.

Family Album to Entertain

  • Broadwater
  • 1940
Learn how to deal with incendiary bombs the correct way in this short and fiery film from Sydney Bligh.

Incendiary Bomb Demonstration

  • Canterbury
  • 1940
Men and women of the ARP learn how to deal with incendiary bombs, evacuate buildings and rescue the injured from smoke and flames in this fascinating short film from Sydney Bligh.

Incendiary Bomb Practice

  • Canterbury
  • 1940
The Giles family makes the most of the last weeks of peace with outings, sports and floral domesticity before ending with antics in an air-raid shelter.

Ottershaw 1939

  • Ottershaw
  • 1939
Men of the NFS demonstrate their fire fighting equipment skills before an audience in this splendid colour film from 1942. And the best crews get the best prizes.

The National Fire Service in Woking and a Pump Relay competition in Guildford

  • Woking
  • 1942