On this day… This week round-up

70 years ago, the submarine HMS Thunderbolt sank for the second time, with the loss of everyone aboard. It had sunk four years previously, raised, and renamed. British Pathé has footage of HMS Thunderbolt, its launch at Birkenhead, and the original sinking off North Wales. Click here to view the collection.

HMS Thunderbolt.

Cheltenham Gold Cup  (15 March)

Tomorrow, the 2013 Cheltenham Gold Cup will take place. British Pathé has footage of the very first Gold Cup jump race, in 1924. Watch the film here.

Six Nations: England v Wales  (16 March)

On Saturday, England will play Wales in a deciding game. England’s 1924 Grand Slam can be viewed here.

Marshal Tito visits London  (16 March)

60 years ago, the leader of Yugoslavia came to Britain and met the Prime Minister in London and toured Cambridge. British Pathé newsreels covered the state visit. You can view them here.

50 years since the death of Sir William Beveridge  (16 March)

British Pathé conducted interviews with Sir William on his welfare report and covered his wedding in 1942. Click here to view the films. He died on 16th March 1963.

In other news…

Nick Compton

Nick Compton recently made his England Test cricket debut (November 2012) and is currently touring with the team in New Zealand. Nick is the grandson of cricketer and footballer Denis Compton, who features heavily in the British Pathé archive. A selection can be found here.

Past Popes

The British Pathé archive has a great deal of footage for the Twentieth Century popes from 1922 until 1972. A selection for each can be found via these links:

Benedict XV – died 1922

Pius XI – British Pathé filmed the election of Benedict XV’s successor, who served from 1922 until his own death in 1939.

Pius XII – Pope from 1939 until 1958.

John XXIII – Pope from 1958 until 1963.

Paul VI – Pope from 1963 until 1978.

www.britishpathe.com

150 Years of the F.A.

The winners of the 1914 FA Cup Final, Burnley.

Earlier in January, the Football Association kicked off celebrations to mark its 150th anniversary.

The FA was established in 1863 and codified the modern rules of that great English sport. Not too long after, in 1871, the very first FA Cup match was held. Sadly, this was too early to be captured by motion picture cameras and the first FA Cup material photographed by British Pathé seems to be some shots of the winning 1914 Burnley team (they beat Liverpool 1-0). The earliest actual in-game footage, though, appears in the clip “ASTON VILLA WIN English Cup for the sixth time – defeating Huddersfield in Cup Final by a lucky goal after extra time”. The film dates from 1920. Almost all of the Cup Final matches were covered by British Pathé from that date on, until the company finished newsreel production in 1970. A collection of the films can be explored here, in date order.

Blackpool v Bolton, 1953.

As well as coverage of the FA Cup, the British Pathé archive holds a wealth of other great games and classic football moments. Simply searching for “football” on our website brings up an astonishing 2333 clips – far too many to detail here! But some particularly interesting material can be found via these links:

1966 World Cup Final

That cherished World Cup win for England was filmed in colour and a special 9-minute newsreel summarised the game for cinema audiences. Re-live the match by watching it here.

You can also see a selection of some of our other favourite World Cup films, with a focus on the 1966 matches. Earlier World Cup coverage can be found by filtering these results.

England’s 1966 World Cup victory. Click the still to watch coverage of the match.

A Football Legend – Pele, Brazil v Sweden, 1958

Brazilian footballer Edison Arantes do Nascimento (or “Pele”) performed so well at the 1958 World Cup Final v Sweden that it was documented in an episode of A Day That Shook The World. Click here to view the episode.

A Great Goal – Helmut Rahn, West Germany v Hungary, 1954

The late Helmut Rahn of Germany scored the winning goal in the 1954 World Cup final. He was playing for West Germany against Hungary. Click here to view the film.

Another Great Goal – Ferenc Puskas, England v Hungary, 1953

The year before, it was the Hungary team which was scoring with exceptional skill. Ferenc Puskas, that legendary player and coach, was playing against England when he scored this terrific goal. Click here to view the film.

Documentary footage on how a football is made

Filmed in 1966. Click here to watch.

Blue Is The Colour

The Chelsea team sing “Blue Is The Colour” in this 1970 film.

Chronicle of Women’s Football

Newsreels from 1918 onwards document the attitudes towards women’s football and illustrate its growing popularity over time. Click here for a collection.

The 1928 FA Cup Final (Blackburn v Huddersfield).

Visit British Pathé’s collection of FA Cup Final coverage, 1920-1970, here.

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Search the archive for more football clips. If you find some worth highlighting, leave us a comment below!

British Pathé Picks: Early Dec 2012

Earlier in November we blogged about four upcoming anniversaries which may have been of interest (see here). From now on, we’ll be doing this on a regular basis, pointing out events coming up in the calendar that we have some relevant footage for. So here’s our picks for the next two weeks…

England Win Cricket Test v Australia  (2 December)

80^th Anniversary: In 1932 England went to Australia to compete in cricket Test matches which would be known as the “Bodyline Tour”. 2^nd December marks the opening day of the first Test, which England won.  Watch the match here.

It has also been announced that a statue of Basil D’Oliveira will be erected at Worcestershire County Cricket Club. See some footage of D’Oliveira in the archive.

Bombing of Naples  (4 December)

70^th Anniversary: Days after Winston Churchill announced that Italy would continue to be bombed until they surrendered, the United States Air Force launched its first air raid on Naples. British Pathé has footage of USAF attacks on Naples, released in cinemas in January of 1943, as well as footage of the RAF missions. See the collection here.

The Great London Smog  (5 December)

60^th Anniversary: The Great London Smog of 1952. British Pathé holds some excellent footage from back when London was plagued with smog throughout the 1950s. Click here to see the clips.

Irish Free State  (6 December)

90^th Anniversary: The Irish Free State was established under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Click here to see British Pathé’s footage of the Irish Free State in 1922.

Visit www.britishpathe.com for more films.

Football History: England Against Wales

“However much they try the English can’t get that goal, the Welsh defence resist all attacks!”

Wales defeat England 2-1 (1955): http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=39923

It was the first times Wales has beaten England in over 17 years. An exciting piece of 1950s football footage with great crowd shots conveying the anxiety and ecstasy of the fans, in the hectic match Welsh centre-forward John Charles even scores an own-goal with his head at one point.

 

“Even the war hasn’t affected the billiard table smoothness of the Wembley grass… Wales are buzzing around the English goal like bees round a honey pot”

Wales defeat England 1-0 at Wembley (1940): http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=25137

Bryn Jones scores the only goal in this match, good shots of England missing a penalty and a very jolly brass band soundtrack from Pathé mixed in with the live cheering.

 

“Every minute the fight is getting tougher! Then England fade away and give Wales another win”

Wales defeat England 4-2 in Cardiff (1938): http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=20773

After a fairly equal start Wales suddenly smash Britain with goal after goal. A brilliant 1930s football reel from Pathé with great quality close-up shots for the period. Some of the details are fantastic too – look out for the giant cigarettes advert on the stadium’s roof!

 

Wales defeat England (1926): http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=24695

A mute clip of course as we’re now way back in the 1920s! Lovely shots of the teams coming out of the tunnel, and of players congratulating and cordially shaking hands with the Welsh player upon scoring a goal.

 

MORE WALES Vs. ENGLAND FOOTAGE:

There are considerably more reels of Wales being defeated by England, and so rather than go into them individually we’ve put them all together for you on this page here:

http://www.britishpathe.com/workspace.php?id=13811

ALSO:

General Welsh history enthusiasts might also like this archive footage collection of Wales: http://www.britishpathe.com/workspace.php?id=6079