Return of the East Lancashire Regiment at Preston (1902)

Preston
1 Jan 1902
Silent
1m

The 2nd Volunteer Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, return home from the Boer War.

Just back from service in the Boer War, the East Lancashire Regiment parades in the grounds of its Fulwood Barracks in Preston before a party of local dignitaries and others. Afterwards, the pith-helmeted militiamen relax and mingle with their audience. These beautifully crisp images were assembled in something of a jumble, suggesting they may be offcuts left over from another film.

The Burnley militia was formed in 1853 and the soldiers form the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment. Fulwood Barracks was on the site of what is now the Queen's Lancashire Regiment Museum. The film was screened by Ralph Pringle in Burnley at the Mechanic's Institute.

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From the collection

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.