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Films for Thought

 


While searching the index to the material held by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) I stumbled across a couple of items relevant to this blog.  Film footage can sometimes feel like a peep hole into the past.  Each individual that appears would have had their own story to tell.  Perhaps this is a theme I will return to in relation to the footage which catches – sometimes only in passing – railway, dock or canal police officers.

The two IWM clips that caught my eye were:

A 1942 film showing war work being carried out by women on the Southern Railway.  Includes a shot of a member of WPC, Southern Railway Police directing traffic at Waterloo.  The commentary reflects the social assumptions of the time.

 https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060021182

 

A silent 1940 film about the evacuation of children.  Shows footage at the front of St Pancras Station with police officers including an LMS Sergeant.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060021257

 

Of most interest to any readers of this blog is the film of the opening of the Railway Police Training School at Tadworth.  Unfortunately, this is not available on the IWM website.  But a copy is held by the BTPHG in the archive.  Quite why this ended up with the IWM is a bit of a mystery.  The school opened some years after the war and was originally purchased by the Southern Railway on behalf of the mainline railway police forces.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060012896 

 

This seems like a good place to mention some of the other bits that are available online:

 

Pathe 1951 showing a BTC officer and police dog at work:

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/railway-police-dogs/query/railway+police

 

Pathe 1933 LNER officers and dogs at Hull:

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/watch-dogs-real-ones-at-hull/query/railway+police

 

BTC officers at Euston for a royal visit:

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/royal-family-leave-for-balmoral/query/railway+police

 

The aftermath of a terrorist bomb at Leicester Square Station 1939 showing LPTB officers (possibly – could be Met)

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA2MQT6HO5CZ5B5GLCW526NKHYH-TERRORISM-SEVEN-WOUNDED-IN-TRAIN-STATION-BOMBINGS/query/railway+police

A 2 part programme by British Transport Films (late 1960s?)_about the problem of theft from the railway that includes footage of BTP officers and an interview with an unnamed superintendent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TWtYKZZawA

 

More to follow.

 

 

 

Comments

  1. Martin7 May 2022 at 10:37

    The opening of Tadworth film is available to view on the BTPHG website: https://www.btphg.org.uk/?page_id=5210

    ReplyDelete

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