The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free
British Red Cross Society Youth at Nurses Camps, Longhoughton and Rothbury
A rich wartime Kodachrome record of young women training to be nurses with the British Red Cross in Northumberland.
From the collection of:
Overview
On the home front, plucky young novice nurses in ‘hospital blues’ train up in Northumberland for a World War Two role with the British Red Cross Society. With a straw bed and a tent, at camps in Longhoughton and the beautiful Coquetdale valley, the enthusiastic volunteers take time out from drills and medical training to paddle off Sugar Sands beach and play games in the grounds of a Red Cross hospital at Rothbury.
This rare actuality footage was recorded by a filmmaker with one of the earliest British cine clubs, the Newcastle and District Amateur Cinematographers Association, formed by James Cameron in 1927. Filmed at two different locations in Northumberland in 1944 and 1945, the young women pictured probably responded to appeals for volunteers by the Joint War Organisation, a merger of the British Red Cross and St John’s Ambulance, who provided trained people to act as reserves to the medical services of the armed forces, and offered first aid and nursing to civilians and soldiers.
Related
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.