1st Volunteer Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment - Blackburn Rifle Volunteers (1900)

Blackburn
1900
Silent
2m

An impressive display of numbers from the local volunteer force as part of the Blackburn Easter Fair.

The call to form volunteer army reserves in 1859 met a huge response in Lancashire, and Blackburn was no exception. The volunteers were an important part of Britain's South African War forces, becoming increasingly consolidated and professional. The diverse ages of the privates and officers is interesting - as is the small cycle corps which heads the march, outnumbering the horses.

BOER WAR.

Note - there are trees and buildings in the background, young boys walk alongside the parade.

Back from the War

Britain's troops return from war in South Africa to a rapturous welcome - despite more ambivalent public attitudes to the Boer War itself.

A few adventurous film companies journeyed to South Africa to capture (mostly heavily sanitised) film documents of the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Mitchell and Kenyon, like most others, stayed at home, choosing instead to film reconstructed or dramatised war stories. But as they visited towns and cities across the North, M&K also captured the jubilation that greeted homecoming troops.

There's no sign here of public misgivings about what had been a brutal and hard-won war, nor any hint of disrespect for the military commanders who appear in several films. Instead, the overwhelming focus is the ranks of ordinary soldiers, and the collective joy and relief for their safe return.