London’s Screen Archives enables Londoners see their past come alive on film. Managed by Film London, we are a unique network of historic film collections that cares for, collects and screens heritage film across the city. Together we preserve London’s rich film heritage from feature films to home movies, public information films, newsreels, and records of the capital’s many different industries.
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Auxiliary Fire Service in Training - 1939
Adorable amateur film showing the work of the Auxiliary Fire Service in Finchley with a mixture of pride and self-deprecation.
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Overview
Sweet film made by a member of the Auxiliary Fire Service, a volunteer force, based on Maresfield Gardens in NW3. It shows the firefighters training, at play and having Christmas dinner in makeshift pub, Ye Old Hose And Pump. The firefighters can be seen practising seriously at Maresfield Gardens, but there are also several visual gags and moments of self-deprecating camera trickery. Stephen Spender and William Sansom both later joined the Maresfield Gardens AFS.
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