Films From The Home Front

A new website featuring films of life on the home front in Britain during the Second World War is being launched this week. Screen Archive South East, at the University of Brighton, in partnership with six other English Regional Film Archives, is launching the site as part of a £225,000 film archive project which forms part of the Big Lottery Fund's £10 million Their Past Your Future (TPYF) programme, and was created with funding distributed by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.

Over the last year all of these archives (London Screen Study Collection, Media Archive for Central England, Northern Region Film and Television Archive, Screen Archive South East, South West Film & Television Archive, Wessex Film & Sound Archive, Yorkshire Film Archive) have researched and digitised significant World War Two films from their collections for integration into this new online historical resource. The site, 'Films from the Home Front', offers free public access to these selected films, the majority of which are being made available to the public for the very first time.

This new lifelong learning resource is dedicated to giving people of all ages the opportunity to discover more about the impact of the Second World War and the immediate post-war period on everyday life. It offers a unique perspective on the lives of ordinary people in Britain on the home front as seen through amateur films and home movies and alongside more 'official' sources such as newsreels and government films.

Margaret Cooney Big Lottery Fund Deputy Director Policy and Partnerships said: "This last strand of funding will bring about a new and enhanced dimension to the way in which we view our recent history. The quality and accessibility of the new digitisation project will provide a highly effective tool for learning, both inside and out of the classroom, to help people of all ages to understand and recognise the importance of sacrifices that people made during the Second World War."

Justin Cavernelis-Frost, MLA's Head of Archive Development, said: "This website connects us to our past and to our involvement in the Second World War. The MLA is pleased to have contributed to its creation and that these archives stand strongly alongside traditional educational resources."

The site is organised into major themes, which explore issues characterising life during the war. These include: Children in War-time, Civil Defence, Community Life, Displaced People, Home and Family Life, Women's Role on the Home Front and Victory Celebrations in 1945.

They explain how the films reveal many dramatic changes that took place in the country during this period. In addition, each of the archives has its own section on the site highlighting how the films fit into the story of their region during the Second World War.

Films from the Home Front is part of the wider 'Moving History' website which presents other films from UK archives on all subjects and aspects of film history across the twentieth century. -- www.mla.gov.uk