From the collection of
London’s Screen Archives is a network of over 50 organisations with a collective vision – to preserve and share London’s history on film. The network is managed by Film London and we work with our partners to digitise, preserve, and offer access to their moving image collections.
A London concert singer attends a military religious service to bless two new ambulance held in a London park.
A drumhead service is a traditional military religious service held in the field, using drums as a makeshift altar. This service took place on the home front, Downhills Park in Haringey, and features Winnie Melville, a popular London concert singer. Holding a bouquet, she presents two new ambulances to the Middlesex Volunteer Transport Corps. Soldiers then watch as the vehicles are blessed by a local vicar.
These poignant films return us to a time when the war was still fresh.
The First World War came to an end at 11am on 11 November 1918 - the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - a day that was immediately commemorated as Armistice Day (Remembrance Sunday was an innovation of the Second World War). The annual parades and wreath laying became a staple of the newsreels, and subsequently television.
But the act of remembrance began long before the guns stopped firing. During the war, cinemas across the country regularly screened 'Roll of Honour' films, paying tribute to members of the local community who had been killed, captured or wounded in the conflict. And of course, while the war itself faded into history, filmmakers would revisit those world-shattering years for generations after.
