Lost Recordings from the Front Line

Lost Recordings from the Front Line

Often faster than letters sent by ship, WWII soldiers stationed in South East Asia would send heartfelt and humorous video messages to their loved ones who'd gather in cinemas across Britain. Using the revolutionary technology of the time the men spoke directly to the camera, addressing their families and partners watching back home in Britain, it was a way the government ensured those fighting further away weren't forgotten.


For Remembrance Day, Dan takes a trip to South Yorkshire to the Penistone Paramount cinema, a red plush auditorium with an original Compton cinema organ, for a special screening of these moving films from the front line. Professor Steve Hawley came across the films gathering dust in archives up and down the country and decided to track down the descendants of the personnel in the films for a special screening. In this episode, Dan goes along and meets Vanessa and Richard Barnes who have no idea a film of their father exists.


Professor Steve Hawley's book is called 'Men, War and Film'

Find out more about the Penistone Paramount here.

Archive audio heard in this episode is held by the BFI.


Produced by Mariana Des Forges and mixed by Dougal Patmore


If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!


Download History Hit app from the Google Play store.

Download History Hit app from the Apple Store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(1498)

Whaling

Whaling

The history of whaling is complicated. At its height in the 18th and 19th centuries, whaling was a global enterprise built on perilous voyages, long seasons at sea, and a fierce chase for oil and bale...

2 Feb 52min

Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc

Teenage peasant, visionary commander, convicted heretic, national saint - Joan of Arc's life reads like a legend. Today, Dan digs past that legend to understand who Joan really was, and why her story ...

29 Jan 1h 1min

 The Dambusters Raid Explained

The Dambusters Raid Explained

In May 1943, the RAF launched one of the Second World War’s most audacious missions: the Dambusters Raid. Today, we follow the raid as it unfolded, hearing about the remarkable people involved and exa...

26 Jan 44min

The Battle of Bosworth

The Battle of Bosworth

In August 1485, the would-be king Henry Tudor went head-to-head with King Richard III - the final, decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses. Only one of these men would leave the battlefield alive, an...

22 Jan 44min

The Top Assassination Attempts on Hitler

The Top Assassination Attempts on Hitler

What does it take to kill a dictator? In this episode, we explore the most dramatic assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler. From Georg Elser, the lone-wolf carpenter who built a bomb by hand, to the P...

19 Jan 41min

A History of Iran

A History of Iran

How does Iran's history underpin today's unrest? Dan traces more than 2,500 years of Iran's story — from the first Persian empires through conquest, dynasties, and revolution — to understand how power...

15 Jan 1h 10min

U.S. Interventions in Latin America and Beyond

U.S. Interventions in Latin America and Beyond

For over 200 years, American presidents have repeatedly justified intervention as 'protection' - from the Monroe Doctrine of the 1820s, Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the 20th century, to Richard Nixo...

12 Jan 30min

A history of (American) occupation in Greenland

A history of (American) occupation in Greenland

This isn't the first or even second time the U.S has made moves to procure Greenland in the last 160 years. President Donald Trump has stepped up his rhetoric, now saying that the use of US military i...

8 Jan 35min

Populært innen Historie

rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
rss-katastrofe
henrettelsespodden
historier-som-endret-norge
historier-som-endret-verden
rss-benadet
aftenposten-historie
rss-nadelose-nordmenn-gestapo
med-egne-oyne
historiepodden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
rss-frontkjemperne
sektledere
rss-historiske-romanser-svik-drap-og-kjarlighet
rss-gamle-greier
liberal-halvtime
taakeprat
vare-historier
virkelig-grusomt
rss-politisk-preik