At Wessex Film and Sound Archive you can see and hear history, from late Victorian times to the present day, through moving images and sound recordings. The Archive contains over 36,000 film and sound recordings relating to Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, including film and tapes of local TV and radio.
This film is part of Free
The Marchwood Park Training Centre and power boats
Women train for war work at Marchwood Park House in this remarkable film which features camouflaged factories, barrage balloons, gas masks and a netball match.
From the collection of:
Overview
This remarkable film shows the vulnerability of Southampton's boatyards during WWII. Barrage balloons patrol the skies while buildings are camouflaged against raiders. Meanwhile, young women are seen arriving at Marchwood Park to train in boat building; from design to manufacture and assembly. They celebrate passing out with a netball game, gas-mask training and first aid practise. We then see French naval officers tour the Hythe works and a fire-hose pump in action.
Hubert Scott-Paine owned a high-speed boat manufacturing business called the British Power Boat Company. It was based in Hythe on the waters of the Solent. In 1939 he purchased Marchwood Park House near Southampton, which became a training centre for female workers. Having mobilised a female workforce during the First World War, Scott-Paine was keen to utilise the same group again once it was clear that hostilities were imminent. The company produced tenders for Imperial Airways as well as fast motor-torpedo boats. One of the company's power boat designs formed the basis for the American PT Boat Squadron, one of which, PT109, was commanded by the future President Kennedy.
Related
Watch for free
Yesterday Is over Your Shoulder Yesterday Is over Your Shoulder
Industry sponsored film 1940 8 mins
An enticing government call for men to retrain as skilled engineers to help with the war effort.
Watch for free
Warwork News No 11 Warwork News No 11
Government sponsored film 1942 12 mins
Wartime news magazine for factory workers, sponsored by the Ministry of Supply. News items often stressed the value of the 'factory front'.
Watch for free
Worker and War Front No. 3 Worker and War Front No. 3
Government sponsored film 1942 11 mins Location: Liverpool
A wartime magazine made to motivate and inform war workers, commissioned by the Ministry of Information in 1942 and exclusively screened in factories.
Watch for free
Behind the Guns Behind the Guns
Documentary 1940 20 mins Silent
A Second World War propaganda film, looking at the industrial might behind Great Britain’s armed forces.
Watch for free
Shipbuilders Shipbuilders
Government sponsored film 1940 10 mins
Shipwrights, plate-fitters and riveters support the war effort as their ships take majestic shape in this tour of British shipyards.
Watch for free
The Port of Cardiff 2 The Port of Cardiff 2
Promotional 1943 25 mins Silent Location: Whitchurch
Meat and wheat, oranges and eggs (dried), salmon and peaches (tinned) arrive in Cardiff from Brazil, America, Canada and New Zealand to keep war-time’s wolf from the allied door.
Watch for free
Building the new library in Hythe Building the new library in Hythe
Amateur film 1962 2 mins Silent Location: Hythe
Hythe is the location for this short film which features a new library under construction as well as other views of this attractive Kent coast town
Watch for free
Bomb damage and Home Guard in Hythe Bomb damage and Home Guard in Hythe
Amateur film 1940 14 mins Silent Location: Hythe
After a visit from the Luftwaffe, Hythe's factories and houses inspect the terrible damage done to their town in a film, which also shows the local Home Guard in fighting form.
Watch for free
Last Year of Peace Last Year of Peace
Amateur film 1939 17 mins Silent Location: Egerton
An amazing film that contrasts the last months of peace in 1939 with scenes from the first year of the war - featuring dog-fights over Sussex and the effects of falling bombs.
Watch for free
Broadstairs and Margate Items Broadstairs and Margate Items
Amateur film 1930 22 mins Silent Location: Broadstairs
The Thanet coast features in this film by Enid Briggs - a woman filmmaker of the 1920s and 1930s - featuring boat rides, horses and family outings.
Watch for free
Hythe Coronation Memories Hythe Coronation Memories
Amateur film 1953 14 mins Silent Location: Hythe
The town of Hythe is smothered in bunting as the townsfolk celebrate the Coronation of Elizabeth II.
Watch for free
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A
Inside Film 2024 22 mins
The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.
Watch for free
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Watch for free
Enter the Scala!!! Enter the Scala!!!
Inside Film 2024 16 mins
Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.
Watch for free
Smith Smith
Charity appeal 1939 10 mins
Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.
Watch for free
An Airman's Letter to His Mother An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Documentary 1941 6 mins
A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.
Watch for free
The NHS75 Celebration The NHS75 Celebration
Short documentary 2023 3 mins
Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.