Canterbury 1939 to 1940

An air raid could come at any moment and Derby had to be ready to deal with the casualties. The people of Littleover were so well prepapred they filmed one of their exercises.

From their sandbagged headquarters, the Sandiacre ARP and Red Cross await their call to action.

Humphrey Jennings and Harry Watt’s famous GPO film is an enduring example of British self-mythology; a hymn to London’s resilience that helped persuade America to join the war.

Sweet and touching wartime cinema appeal for 300,000 London children spending Christmas far from home.

Step into the aftermath of a WWII bombing raid in south London in this startling amateur film.

Matter-of-fact wartime instruction in how to fit your gas mask efficiently - leaving no margin for error.

Canterbury's newest department store opens to a colourful fanfare as this film from Peter Mills shows - along with an historical pageant, a Marine band and a trip to Dover Castle.

Peter Mills' film provides a glimpse of Canterbury and Dover in the early 1960s - where buildings, ancient and modern, sit side by side and Dover's castle is a backdrop to the port

One of the UK's oldest film studios braces itself for redevelopment in this film from Alan Stingemore

Surviving Battle of Britain veterans celebrate half a century since their finest hour at various locations in Kent - Britain's front line county during the Second World War

Alexandra Palace is the venue for this short film from Alan Stingemore which also includes a look at Canterbury's LongMarket shopping centre

T S Eliot stars in this remarkable film from Sydney Bligh - attending a performance of his famous play 'Murder in the Cathedral' in the story's actual location

The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.

Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.

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.

Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.

A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.

Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.