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.
This film is part of Free
Montgomery's Visit
Canterbury goes wild when the hero of El Alamein's in town - watch Monty meet dignitaries, inspects soldiers and greets thousands of cheering well-wishers.
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Overview
This remarkable home-movie records the day Field Marshall Sir Bernard Montgomery, the victor of El Alamein, visited Canterbury on 25th October 1945. We see him salute and meet a very tall soldier as well as other dignitaries. At the city's medieval Westgate, he inspects rows of soldiers before being driven off in an open-top car - with much of the local population in tow. After receiving the Freedom of the City and giving a speech he's driven past the cheering crowds.
Sydney Bligh ran a wireless and electronics shop called S.W.Bligh, which was on North Lane in Canterbury. He was an early pioneer of radio, beginning his experiments in 1913 using the call-sign BXA. By the early 1920s Bligh was broadcasting his own shows - before becoming one of the founder members of the British Broadcasting Company. As well as his work as an amateur filmmaker he also was an early pioneer of television and developed some components that improved television reception.
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