Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 2297 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| WINGS FOR VICTORY 1943 | 1943 | 1943-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Black & White / Colour Sound: Silent Duration: 6 mins 31 secs Credits: Willie Thorne Subject: Wartime |
| Summary This is a film made by Chapeltown dentist Willie Thorne of a War Weapons Week held at in Chapeltown, located on the outskirts of Sheffield, this film was made by a local dentist who filmed activities in the village throughout World War Two. |
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Description
This is a film made by Chapeltown dentist Willie Thorne of a War Weapons Week held at in Chapeltown, located on the outskirts of Sheffield, this film was made by a local dentist who filmed activities in the village throughout World War Two.
The film begins with a march past Chapeltown which is led by a brass band. The march is made up of all the wartime agencies. A lengthy black and white sequence has good views of the procession including home guard, nurses and clergy marching through the...
This is a film made by Chapeltown dentist Willie Thorne of a War Weapons Week held at in Chapeltown, located on the outskirts of Sheffield, this film was made by a local dentist who filmed activities in the village throughout World War Two.
The film begins with a march past Chapeltown which is led by a brass band. The march is made up of all the wartime agencies. A lengthy black and white sequence has good views of the procession including home guard, nurses and clergy marching through the streets. A large crowd has gathered to watch.
At the end of the parade, the procession forms a semi-circle around a pavilion. Here, from the pavilion, high ranking military officials give speeches to the crowd.
The film stock then changes to colour, and the words, 'To 1943', are superimposed over a shot of a Cenotaph. The brass band plays whilst British Legionnaires hold their flag aloft. Looking towards the sky, the final scene shows the Union Jack as an aircraft flies above it.
Context
An understated resolve can be seen on the faces of these servicemen and women as they march through the streets of Chapeltown, near Sheffield, to raise money for bombers in 1943. Already well drilled from previous fund raising events, it is fascinating to see the mixture of emotions among the serving personnel on view, and those watching, and evidence of how the wartime discipline and order keeps it all in check; with the British Legionnaires having seen it all before.
This film is one...
An understated resolve can be seen on the faces of these servicemen and women as they march through the streets of Chapeltown, near Sheffield, to raise money for bombers in 1943. Already well drilled from previous fund raising events, it is fascinating to see the mixture of emotions among the serving personnel on view, and those watching, and evidence of how the wartime discipline and order keeps it all in check; with the British Legionnaires having seen it all before.
This film is one of several made by a local dentist, Willie Thorne, of activities in Chapeltown during the war. The Wings for Victory Weeks were held across the country in 1943, from March onwards, to raise money by, among other ways, encouraging civilians to save with War Bonds. With the loss of 12,000 heavy bombers during the course of the war, they helped to build replacements for the controversial area bombing raids which began in 1942, dropping some 80 million incendiary bombs, devastating German cities and killing 635,000 German civilians. The RAF crews making the raids had to do 30 sorties, if they were lucky: with a 40% chance of being shot down, six out of every ten British bomber airmen – 55,000 – died. |
