Screen Archive South East is a public sector moving image archive serving the South East of England. The archive's collections of magic lantern slides, films, videos and associated materials capture the many varied aspects of life, work and creativity from the early days of screen history to the present day and serve as a rich and invaluable historical resource.
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Croydon Aerodrome
It's 'chocks away' as we see a variety of vintage aircraft flying in and out of Croydon Airport in this fascinating film from 1932, which also shows a wartime wedding.
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Overview
This remarkable film from 1932 shows how we used to fly in the inter-war years from Croydon Airport. We see aircraft from Handley Page and Armstrong Whitworth as well as spectators on the roof terrace of what was once the terminal of London's main airport. This is followed by a wedding which took place in 1943, during the height of the war.
The two Imperial Airways airliners seen in this amazing film of Croydon Airport are G-AAXF, a Handley Page HP42 named Helena and G-AACI, an Armstrong Whitworth Argosy named 'City of Liverpool'. The latter aircraft crashed and burned under mysterious circumstances near the Belgian town of Diksmuide in March 1933, killing all 15 passengers and crew onboard. It was thought that the aircraft might have been deliberately sabotaged by a German dentist, who was resident in the UK, and was seen to jump, without a parachute, from the aircraft as it began its fiery descent. This puzzling case led the jury at the inquest to record an 'open verdict'.
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