Description: I. 'FIRST HOURS OF PEACE.' British Prime Minister Clement R Attlee addresses the nation on VJ Day. Attlee speaking live to camera states "Peace has once again come to the world. Let us thank God for this great deliverance and his mercy. God save the King." A British policeman scans the headlines of various newspapers (including The Daily Express- "Peace on Earth", Daily Mirror- "Peace-Japan Surrenders" and Daily Herald- "Wars Over"). King George VI and Queen Elizabeth drive from Buckingham Palace to Westminster through cheering crowds for the state opening of Parliament. Civilians crowd Trafalgar Square waving Union flags and US flags. Cheering crowds wave at the camera in Piccadilly Circus. Very large crowds of civilians chant "We want the King" outside the gates of Buckingham Palace. King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret emerge onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Ernest Bevin and Clement R Attlee, walk together to an evening thanksgiving service held at St Margaret's Church, Westminster. Film footage taken in the evening shows the Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Bridge, and Houses of Parliament illuminated for the first time since the cessation of hostilities. Civilian crowds celebrate VJ Day by singing around a piano on a bomb site in the Old Kent Road. Brief Stockshot footage shows King George VI in naval uniform with a Union flag as a backdrop.
Production Details: Ministry of Information, Middle East (Production sponsor)
War Pictorial News (Production company)
Martin, Charles (Production individual)
O'Malley, Patrick (Production cast)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Attlee, Clement Richard (person)
George VI, King (person)
Elizabeth II, Queen (person)
Elizabeth II, Queen (person)
Margaret, Princess (person)
Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer (person)
Eden, (Robert) Anthony (person)
Bevin, Ernest (person)
Keywords: celebrations, British - event-related: VJ Day (object name)
Second World War, British Home Front & VJ Day & 15/8/1945 (event)
GB, England & London, EC <Saint Paul's Cathedral> (geography)
GB, England & London, EC <Tower of London> (geography)
GB, England & London, SW <Buckingham Palace> (geography)
GB, England & London, SW <Houses of Parliament> (geography)
GB, England & London, WC <Piccadilly Circus> (geography)
GB, England & London, WC <Trafalgar Square> (geography)
GB, England & Windsor, Berks <Windsor Castle> (geography)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Sound
Soundtrack language: English
Title language: English
Subtitle language: Arabic
Technical Details: Format: 35mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 1
Footage: 765 ft; Running time: 8 mins
