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Home Front Britain
Discovery Channel has teamed up with the British Film Institute to create this amazing six-part series presented by respected British actor Jim Carter.
Films include: How to identify and accost a German spy (Miss Grant Goes to the Door), how to extinguish an incendiary bomb (Go to Blazes), and how to avoid VD (Love on Leave). Some of the most famous names in cinema were involved in the production of this treasured collection of wartime movies including writers JB Priestley and EM Forster; actors Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave and John Mills; and directors Humphrey Jennings, Ruby Grierson, Jack Lee and Brian Desmond Hurst.
Visit the BFI website for information on World War II films and much more...
Bampton Shows the Way
Made by the Realist Film Unit for the Ministry of Food, Bampton Shows The Way tells the story of a Devon village's efforts to organise a food week, highlighting the importance of digging for victory and effectively using rationed food. WATCH A CLIP
Do it Now
A 1939 propaganda film from the GPO Film Unit, showing what people must or must not do in wartime. Advice includes keeping a gas mask handy in a box in the house, how to cope with bomb raids and avoiding panic buying. WATCH A CLIP
Food Flash
Food Flashes were a series of 'Kitchen Front' films produced during and after World War II to instruct the civilian population how to use rationed foods and resouces. Learn more about potatoes, green vegetables, petrol and the importance of recycling milk bottle tops. WATCH A CLIP
Living with Strangers
This 1941 film, sponsored by the Ministries of Information and Health, presents an optimistic view of the Evacution Programme, and was made at a time when 80% of evacuees had returned home after the 'phoney war' - the period of time between September 1939 and May 1940. WATCH A CLIP
Home Front Britain - Episode 1
Join Jim Carter as he travels back in time to life on the Home Front during World War II, through the Ministry of Information’s unique collection of wartime movies. Many of these films have been transferred from 35mm film and specially restored for the series. WATCH A CLIP
How do they do it?
How do you store a quarter of a million very fragile and highly flammable film reels? Carefully. See the BFI at work in this fascinating look into the BFI Film Archive in Berkhamstead. WATCH A CLIP
More...
Fact
Carrots were the one vegetable which was in plentiful supply in World War II and as a result, they were widely-used as a substitute for more scarce foods and used in several ‘mock’ recipes like apricot tart.
Photos
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WWII Posters
War wasn’t only fought on the battlefield, it was fought on the wall. Propaganda was a vital weapon in World War II.
Take a look at World War II posters -
Food rationing
As World War II progressed, Britain became hungrier as the Ministry of Food instituted a rationing system which covered most kinds of food.
Look at the average weekly ration -
Feeding the Nation
Marguerite Patten worked for the Ministry of Food in World War II, writing delicious recipes and inventing new ways to use rations.
Try some of Marguerite's recipes -
Bombs over Britain
Check out images of Blighty, from the near-destruction of Liverpool, London and Plymouth to the novel use of the capital's tube stations.
Look at Britain under fire -
Views of Europe
Look back at the devastation across the continent as Hitler’s military machine rumbled on, from dogfights over Germany to the Nazis in Paris.
View Europe in World War II