Shipbuilders

Shipbuilders


Shipwrights, plate-fitters and riveters support the war effort as their ships take majestic shape in this tour of British shipyards.

Shipwrights, plate-fitters and riveters are busy at work in shipyards around Britain, but make time to talk to well-known newsreader, E.V.H. Emmett, about the nature and importance of their work - with the occasional dig at the expense of their colleagues. From Clydeside to the North East of England there's an intensive war effort underway and this propaganda film aims to "Let everyone know that we're building ships that we're proud of", as shipwright Charlie puts it.

E.V.H. Emmett was a household name as a result of his job as commentator for the contemporary newsreel Gaumont British News. Cinema newsreels were the key source of wartime information for millions across Britain, and Emmett's voice would have conveyed a sense of authority, here deployed with a characteristically buoyant, jokey aspect. Emmett also had an active sideline working in films of the 1930s-50s, usually as narrator.


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Keep the Wheels Turning

The State seized control of much of British industry at the start of the war. Mills and factories now produced munitions, planes, tanks and uniforms, while mines yielded the coal to power it all.

Production went into overdrive. Workforces in key industries like coalmining and shipbuilding were classed as 'reserved occupations' and spared the draft, while an army of women took to the machines to meet the constant demand for munitions and uniforms. In hindsight, we can see that the foundations of the postwar settlement were being laid. The wartime economy was formidable: workers pulled together to meet ever-increasing demand for resources and government oversight kept the motors running.


13 videos in this collection

An enticing government call for men to retrain as skilled engineers to help with the war effort.
1

Yesterday Is over Your Shoulder

Shipwrights, plate-fitters and riveters support the war effort as their ships take majestic shape in this tour of British shipyards.
2

Shipbuilders

A Ministry of Information film encouraging the wartime public to increase productivity by “taking work to the workers”.
3

Out Working

Women on the factory floor? An engineer needs convincing that war work is a feminine pursuit.
4

Her Father's Daughter

A tribute to British workmanship - from Witney blankets to Sheffield cutlery.
5

Good Value

A patriotic look at British steelmaking.
6

Furnaces of Industry

Hard work on the home front: the story of the 'reserved occupations'.
7

A Job to Be Done

Wartime woodland management: we can do it! Women add their labour to the work of axe and saw.
8

The New Crop

A pair of 'nude' dancers find a new way of doing their bit for the boys in this fun propaganda short
9

A Call for Arms!

The factory floor view of WWII, inside a busy aircraft works
10

Wartime Factory

11

British Made 'ameri-cans' Something to Focus On

12

Dai Jones

13

Our Film

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