Ypres – 1925 film

Watch the film here.

In 1925, with the cooperation of the War Office, British Instructional Films set out to make a dramatic, feature-length reconstruction of the five Ypres battles in which 1.7 million soldiers lost their lives.

Directed by William Summers, the result is a silent classic. Unlike the famous 1916 documentary The Battle of the Somme, the Ypres footage is entirely “faked” and the film shares some of Somme‘s propagandist approach. Regardless, the film is no less fascinating as an artistic endeavour of its time and it features some stunning images. A degree of authenticity is provided by real soldiers taking part and by the filming having taken place in the actual Ypres trenches.

The documentary, called simply “Ypres”, can be viewed in its entirety on the British Pathé website, via this link. Some of the footage is quite dark and you might need to adjust the settings on your monitor, but it is well worth a watch.

William Summers also directed the film Nelson (1926), starring Cedric Hardwicke. The silent motion picture, also made for British Instructional Films, can be viewed here.

For the film and related footage, click here.

Days That Shook The World – 21st Century Pathé

A few years ago, what was then called “British Pathé News” began a production with the BBC called A Day That Shook The World. Two series were eventually made, the first narrated by John Humphrys, and they are available on our website to view (for free) in our programmes section. The last Pathé newsreel was released in February 1970, so this series and the associated series 20th Century Hall of Fame bring the archive beyond the twentieth century.

Topics covered by the series include September 11th, the Iraq War and the Capture of Saddam Hussein, the collapse of Enron, the Asian Tsunami, and the London Bombings. From this period, the series also covers the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla – not quite an event that “shook the world” but certainly an interesting one.

From the latter part of the twentieth century, the series documents the impeachment of President Clinton, the death of Diana, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first Gulf War, Chernobyl, and the Falklands Crisis. Prior to that we are in classic Pathe territory, with episodes succinctly summarising key events using Pathe footage that was captured at the time – the Somme, Hiroshima, Queen Victoria’s funeral, to name but a few. The series therefore acts as a useful entry point into an archive of 90,000 clips to wade through.

Martin Luther King is the subject of an episode. Click the still to watch the film.

The moon landings are covered in an episode. Click the still to view it.

You can view the entire A Day That Shook The World series by clicking http://www.britishpathe.com/programmes/day-that-shook-the-world or selecting the link below that you want:

Episode	Title	Date
1	Queen   Victorias Funeral	1901
2	The   Wright Brothers First Flight	1903
3	Emily   Davison Throws Herself Under The Kings Derby Horse	1913
4	Battle   Of The Somme	1916
5	Abdication   Of The Tsar Nikolas	1917
6	Irish   Free State Treaty Signed	1921
7	Suzanne   Lenglen Breaks Wimbledon Record	1925
8	Start   Of UK General Strike	1926
9	Charles   Lindbergh Flies The Atlantic Solo	1927
10	American   Golfer Bobby Jones Wins Grand Slam	1930
11	Hitler   Becomes German Chancellor	1933
12	Edward   VIII Abdicates	1936
13	Hindenburg   Airship Crash	1937
14	Hitler   Annexes Austria	1938
15	Germany   Invades Poland	1939
16	Evacuation   Of Dunkirk	1940
17	London   Blitz Begins On Civilian Targets	1940
18	Pearl   Harbour Attacked	1941
19	Battle   Of El Alamein Begins	1942
20	Fall   Of Stalingrad – German Army Surrenders	1943
21	D-Day   Landings	1944
22	Liberation   Of Paris	1944
23	Big   Three Meet At Yalta To Carve Up Post-War World	1945
24	Germans   Surrender To Montgomery	1945
25	VE   Day Celebrations	1945
26	First   Atomic Bomb Test In New Mexico	1945
27	Labours   Landslide Election Win	1945
28	Atomic   Bomb Dropped On Hiroshima	1945
29	India   And Pakistan Gain Independence	1947
30	Berlin   Airlift Begins	1948
31	Maos   Communists Take Over In China	1949
32	Korean   War Starts	1950
33	Britain   Explodes First Atomic Bomb	1952
34	Launch   Of First Nuclear Submarine	1954
35	Roger   Bannister Breaks Four Minute Mile	1954
36	French   Surrender At Dien Bien Phu	1954
37	Le   Mans 24 Race Disaster	1955
38	Khrushchev   Denounces Stalin	1956
39	First   Nuclear Power Station	1956
40	Soviets   Crush Hungarian Revolt	1956
41	Suez   Invasion	1956
42	Manchester   United Players Die In Munich Air Crash	1958
43	Peles   World Cup Final Performance Thrills Crowds	1958
44	First   Hovercraft Run	1959
45	Kennedy   Inauguration	1961
46	Yuri   Gagarin Becomes The First Man In Space	1961
47	Erection   Of The Berlin Wall	1961
48	Cuban   Missile Crisis	1962
49	Martin   Luther King Delivers His “I Have A Dream” Speech	1962
50	Kennedy   Assassinated	1963
51	Beatles   Return From States In Triumph	1964
52	Aberfan   Slag Heap Buries School	1966
53	Donald   Campbell Dies In Bluebird Crash	1967
54	Six-Day   War Begins	1967
55	Grosvenor   Square Anti-Vietnam Riots	1968
56	Paris   Riots – France Comes Close To Revolution	1968
57	Soviets   Put Down Prague Spring	1968
58	Concorde   Flies For First Time	1969
59	Armstrong   Sets Foot On The Moon	1969
60	Bloody   Sunday In Northern Ireland	1972
61	Nixon   First Us President To Resign	1974
62	Ayatollah   Khomeini Returns From Exile	1979
63	Lord   Mountbatten Assassinated By IRA	1979
64	British   Sas Storm Iranian Embassy In London	1980
65	British   Task Force To Sail For Falklands	1982
66	HMS   Sheffield Sunk In Falklands War	1982
67	IRA   Bombs British Cabinet At Brighton	1984
68	Ethiopian   Famine – BBC Reports Spark Huge Response	1984
69	Heysel   Stadium Riots	1985
70	Challenger   Spacecraft Explodes	1986
71	America   Attacks Libya	1986
72	Chernobyl   Disaster	1986
73	Zeebrugge   Ferry Disaster	1987
74	Lockerbie   Pan-Am Jet Explosion	1988
75	Exxon   Valdez- Worlds Worst Oil Spill	1989
76	Hillsborough   Football Stadium Disaster	1989
77	Tiananmen   Square Massacre	1989
78	Berlin   Wall Comes Down	1989
79	Official   End Of The Cold War – Bush/gorbachev Agree To Deal	1989
80	Ceausescu   Overthrown	1989
81	Nelson   Mandela Released	1990
82	Iraq   Invade Kuwait	1990
83	Thatcher   Falls From Power	1990
84	Desert   Storm – Gulf War	1990
85	Soviet   Coup Failed	1991
86	Maastricht   Treaty	1991
87	Los   Angeles Race Riots	1992
88	British   Royal Family In Crisis	1992
89	Windsor   Castle Damaged By Fire	1992
90	The   Prince And Princess Separate	1992
91	Arab   Israeli Peace Agreement	1993
92	Yeltsin   Crushes Political Rebels	1993
93	Bosnian   Crisis	1994
94	Barings   Bank Collapses	1995
95	150   Die In Oklahoma Terrorist Attack	1995
96	Dolly   The Sheep Clone Unveiled	1997
97	Princess   Of Wales Dies In Paris Car Crash	1997
98	Death   Of Mother Teresa	1997
99	Funeral   Of Diana, Princess Of Wales	1997
100	Hurricane   Mitch	1998
101	President   Clintons Impeachment	1998
102	NATO   Bombing Of Chinese Embassy, Belgrade	1999
103	The   Millennium	2000
104	Deciphering   Of The Human Genome	2000
105	Concorde   Crash	2000
106	September   11th	2001
107	Ipod	2001
108	Battle   Of Tora Bora	2001
109	Fall   Of Iraq	2003
110	Saddam   Capture	2003
111	Beslan   School Siege	2004
112	Orange   Revolution (Ukraine)	2004
113	Asian   Tsunami	2004
114	Kyoto   Agreement	2005
115	Pope   John Paul II Dies	2005
116	Charles   And Camilla	2005
117	Super   Jumbo Airbus	2005
118	London   Awarded 2012 Olympics	2005
119	London   Bombings	2005
120	Hurricane   Katrina	2005
121	Israeli   Invasion Of Lebanon	2006
122	Collapse   Of Enron	2006

British Pathé Picks: Nov 2012

Every now and again there are some important anniversaries that are worth blogging about. As it happens, there are four all coming up in the next few days. So here’s some relevant links that may be of interest to you.

Battle of the Somme (18^th)

In a few days it will be the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme coming to an end. Our First World War Somme collection contains some very good material.

Key Turning Point in WW2: Operation Uranus  (19^th)

On the 19th of this month it will be 70 years since the Soviet Union began Operation Uranus, part of the Battle of Stalingrad. British Pathé’s material on Stalingrad can be found here.

65th Wedding Anniversary of the Queen and Prince Philip (20^th)

On the 20th November, the royal couple will celebrate their wedding anniversary. British Pathé was there to announce their engagement and to document their wedding.

Interestingly, it is also the anniversary of the fire at Windsor Castle in 1992 – it’s been a whole 20 years since the Queen’s “annus horribilis”. We have some episodes of A Day That Shook The World that cover this dreadful year for the royal family. As well as the Windsor Castle Damaged By Fire, there’s the Prince and Princess Separate, and the Royal Family in Crisis.

Tomb of Tutankhamun opened (26^th)

On 26th November 1922, the archaeologist Howard Carter entered the tomb of the famous Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. British Pathé has some shots of Carter at the tomb, as well as of the treasures found within. Our Tutankhamun collection can be found here.

Visit www.britishpathe.com for more films.

The Pathé War Archive

We are now entering into the period leading up to Remembrance Day. We have already blogged this week about the history of poppies and why we wear them (see Poppies: An Illustrated History), but there is plenty more to discuss and explore. Since Pathé’s war archive is extensive, we present here some potential starting points, with links here to key collections that can act as a way in.

The First World War

British Pathé holds one of the finest and most comprehensive First World War archives in the world. You will find chilling shots of young troops huddled in their trenches, wearing gas masks, and going “over the top”, as well as battleships at sea, and aerial warfare. Some collections we have created may be of interest, such as The Somme, the use of War Horses, and the Treaty of Versailles. We even have material of married men protesting against conscription.

A more general First World War Collection can be found here, or you can search our website for what you want.

The Second World War

The archive of World War Two material filmed by British Pathé is wide-ranging. Pathé cameramen went with the troops all around the world, and documented the destruction at home. Footage details warfare on land, at sea, and in the air. Some collections that may interest you include our D-Day clips, coverage of the Battle of the Atlantic, the dramatic escape from Dunkirk, and the devastation of the Blitz.

A more general Second World War Collection can be found here, or you can search our website for what you want.

Korean War

The Korean War is often referred to as “The Forgotten War”. Two and a half million people lost their lives in this conflict, including many British soldiers. Our Korean War Collection (just a selection) can be found here, or you can search our website for what you want.

Remembrance Day is on 11th November.