The East Anglian Film Archive, the first and largest Regional Film Archive in England, was established in 1976. Since 1984, EAFA has been owned and operated by the University of East Anglia, Norwich (UEA), to support research and work to preserve our moving image heritage. More than 250 hours are freely available online as examples of the wide range of film which attracts interest the world over.
This film is part of Free
Summer holiday 1939
It was business as usual as the university came down for the summer break and Cambridge don Trevor Spittle and his family headed to their new holiday home at Portcothan, Cornwall.
From the collection of:
Overview
The idyllic seaside setting on the North Cornwall coast was a lifetime away from what was developing in Europe but this film marks the contrast and return to Cambridge as war was declared and the Spittle family rallied round to do their bit for King and country. Mrs Spittle joined the Civil Defence and organised the ARP officers. One of the realities of war preparation was the issue of gas masks which they can be seen trying on for size outside Shire Hall, Cambridge.