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The headmaster of Elworth school, Arthur Hulme, recorded on film the wartime preparations and activities of the pupils and evacuee children at this Cheshire primary school. The film shows the children practising putting on gas masks, acting out an air raid drill, growing vegetables as part of the 'dig for victory' campaign, and doing first aid activities. Amateur film during the Second World War, though restricted by government regulations and by shortages of film stock, was still widespread and has provided a unique record of the first hand experience of war-time life. Amateur films often capture aspects of life or offer perspectives that official films cannot, and this film gives a clear indication of the real impact the war was having on every day life for school children. The Imperial War Museum Film and Video Archive has a small but fascinating collection of amateur films made from ca. 1930 onwards. Other key amateur material includes the collection of films made by Rosie Newman who filmed in places where cameras would not normally have been allowed, and material from fireman Arthur Green who filmed in London during and after the Second World War. See also: 'Air Raid Practice, Knoll School Hove' from the South East Film and Video Archive which shows school children in Sussex practising for an air raid drill. |
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