VIEWS OF CORNWALL, LOCATIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND SCENES IN LONDON INCLUDING VE DAY AND VJ DAY CELEBRATIONS [Allocated Title]

Log in to create clips, download free screeners and save clips/films in Collections. Click here to find out more.

Media files

  • Title: VIEWS OF CORNWALL, LOCATIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND SCENES IN LONDON INCLUDING VE DAY AND VJ DAY CELEBRATIONS [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: MGH 5071-5076
  • Other titles: AMATEUR FILM BY LIEUTENANT SIDNEY SASSON [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: Amateur colour film shot by Lieutenant Sidney Sasson of the US Army Signal Corps, Army Pictorial Service.
  • Description: MGH 5071 1945 (?). Early autumn. Scenes shot from the front and back of a moving car along almost deserted roads through wooded English countryside (possibly a country park). Car passes a sailor riding a bicycle, a large boating lake and several pedestrians. Close-up shots of a young woman with an extravagant hairstyle walking at the side of the lake. MGH 5072 1945 (?). Steam engine pulling into a small rural train station. Lieutenant Sidney Sasson getting in to a GWR railway carriage on a train bound for Looe (Cornwall). Scenes from the moving train of the English countryside. Shot of the railway tracks in front of the moving train. Shot of the roof of the moving train. Train passes under a large bridge and arrives at a small station (scene ends abruptly). Long shot looking down on the coastal town of Polperro. View of the coastline with various shots of waves breaking over rocks. Small boy walking along a rough coastal path towards the camera and then climbing up the cliffs. Shots of the rocky coastline. Long shot of a small fishing boat out at sea. Seagull flying overhead. Small fishing boat outside of the harbour wall. Rowing boats and fishermen with their catch of crabs. Baskets of crabs being unloaded. Close-up shots of a lobster and some crabs. Various fish being brought ashore including cod. Panning shot looking down over the town. Sasson walking slowly out of a house and through the front garden. Sasson talking with a fisherman in the harbour (gesticulating - possibly comparing the size of fish). More shots looking down on the town. Further shots of the same small boy walking along the coastal path to join an older boy and a woman. Shot of the cliffs and the small boy seated playing with a stalk of grass. Portrait shot of the small boy. Rear view of a woman standing on the edge of a cliff and looking out to sea. More views of the rocky coastline. View of clouds over the sea. Further views of the coastline. MGH 5073 Post-war, probably the San Bernardino National Forest area of Southern California, USA. Sign advertising "Del Hai Mo Lodge". Shots through an arch showing white painted, pantiled buildings and an open-air swimming pool. View of the buildings with mountains in the background. Panning shot of the swimming pool. Shots of man swimming, and a woman sitting in a rubber ring, in the pool. Sasson walks up to the side of the pool, removes his shirt and gets in to the water. Various shots of Sasson in the pool. Brief shots of a lizard running across the arid ground. Panning shot of the mountains. Shots of various trees being blown by the wind. Panning shot across a valley. Cars driving along a mountain highway. View from one of the moving cars. Sign directing to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. Cars parked at a lake (presumably one of the two lakes signposted). Small dog and two women wading in the water. Various shots of sporting activities on the lake. People sunbathing by the side of the lake. Shots of waterskiing on the lake. Large dog being helped on to a surfboard in the water. MGH 5074 1945, London. View up-river of The Thames. Landing craft LCA 906 passing under the camera and proceeding down-river past the Houses of Parliament toward Westminster Bridge. Panning shot over Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. Views of the tower of "Big Ben" (St Stephen's Tower), the Houses of Parliament, Parliament Square and the statue of Abraham Lincoln in Parliament Square with a close-up shot of a laurel wreath laid at the base of the statue. Shot of Westminster Abbey with brick built pillbox visible in the foreground. Several red London buses pass in front of the Abbey. Views of the Houses of Parliament from south of the river and from Old Palace Yard with the statue of King Richard I on horseback in the foreground. Views of large building with brick blast protection in front of the ground floor windows and original doorway. Street scenes, probably in the Grosvenor Street/Grosvenor Square area. Sustained panning shot of a large, Georgian style building on the corner of Grosvenor Street and Davies Street W1 (former shop sign left an imprint of "Norah Crampton" 29 Davies Street). Several American servicemen and Sasson seen leaving 33 Davies Street. View along Davies Street towards Oxford Street. Pedestrians and vehicles in Oxford Street (?). Exterior of a branch of the Westminster Bank in Oxford Street. View along Oxford Street including the exterior of a Dolcis shoe shop. Traffic passing Marble Arch. View from Marble Arch looking along Oxford Street with several red London buses turning in to Park Lane. Selfridges department store in Oxford Street - shots of the building and of the main entrance. View along Park Lane towards Marble Arch. Panning shot of the Odeon cinema and Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch. Shop fronts in Regent Street including Bertram Gilbert, Helen Kaye and London Shoe and a shot of the closed gates of the Regent Arcade. View along Regent Street and exterior shot of Dickens and Jones, no 59 red London bus passing the camera, views of the exteriors of several shops Liberty, Jaeger, Hamleys, Wetherall, Galeries Lafayette, Kodak, Manfield and Sons, Robinson and Cleaver Ltd, Sodens, Carters (?) and a branch of Lloyds Bank. Brief shot of the exterior of the Swan and Edgar department store on the corner of Regent Street. Shops and advertisements in Piccadilly Circus. Sasson talking with two US Military Police, "snowdrops", in Piccadilly Circus. Dark shot of Swan and Edgar department store. Further shots around Piccadilly Circus including the protective hoarding covering the statue of Eros. Sasson purchasing a newspaper from a street vendor. Slow panning shot down Duke of York's Column, Waterloo Place, Carlton House Terrace. Paper ("ticker-tape" style) being thrown from the roof of a building housing a branch of Lloyds Bank. Dark shots of advertisements for the feature films "Wilson" and "Mrs Parkington". Dark shots of traffic and pedestrians on a street corner. View of a London "request" bus stop in New Bond Street. Pedestrians and vehicles in New Bond Street. Sasson looking in the shop window of a mens' outfitters Harborows. Shots of shop fronts Anglo-French Wine Co Ltd and Finnigans. Vehicles and pedestrians in New Bond Street. Shot of a wall covered with fly-posters, most advertising classical music events - Mozart's Requiem and a Bach Festival. Sasson stroking large dog which is seated on the pavement. Shot of the exterior of F Pinet showing a window cleaner cleaning one of the large shop windows. Further shots in New Bond Street including a horse drawn cart and the exterior of Sotheby's auction house. Shot from a moving car driving along Davies Street. Sustained shot of a tree in blossom and a small lake in Regent's Park. Shot of Sasson, and other visitors, approaching the south entrance to the London Zoo (Zoological Gardens). Various shots within the Zoo, including close-up of a caged male lion being stroked by (presumably!) one of his keepers, a female lion pacing up and down in her cage, various birds, visitors walking past the cages, a young llama, goats in their enclosure, monkeys and chimpanzees, a camel, an eagle and parrots (one parrot seated on the shoulder of an elderly bearded man), signs for the "First Aid Post" and "Lost Children" office. Shot of the park gates and of a bed of tulips. View of one of the roads within the park (the inner or outer circle). Sasson walking around an ornamental pond and across a small wooden bridge in the Japanese Garden of the Queen Mary's Garden, Regent's Park. Shots of St James Park including a view of Buckingham Palace. Sasson playing an informal game of cricket in Hyde Park (Sasson's Army Service Forces shoulder sleeve insignia clearly visible). Sasson posing for the camera wielding a cricket bat. Sasson playing American baseball (using the cricket bat). Sasson and his fellow sportsmen posing for the camera. Large hoarding "The Mayor of Hendon appeals to you to give generously to the special fund to raise £1,000 for the provision of a mobile canteen for the H M Forces Overseas". View along a suburban street, Hale Lane in Barnet. Sasson walks toward the front gate of a large suburban house (no 267). Group of five teenage boys standing talking on the street. Sasson chatting with the boys outside St James' Presbyterian Church. Brief shots of two aircraft flying overhead. London, 8 May 1945, VE Day. Panning shot over rooftops including a shot of a tall, brick built chimney. People throwing paper and toilet rolls ("ticker-tape" style) from the open windows of the building housing 33 Davies Street. Crowds of people walking along Piccadilly. Crowds outside of Charing Cross railway station. Members of the US Army Signal Corps, Army Pictorial Service, standing on a Jeep filming in Trafalgar Square (Jeep front bumper painted with the designation UKB 3908 SIG PHOTO BN CO A5). A large number of people crowded around the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. More scenes of crowds in Piccadilly and in Trafalgar Square. Two young women and two British Army soldiers paddle in the water in one of the fountains in Trafalgar Square. Car flying both the Union flag and the American flag attempting to drive through the crowds in Trafalgar Square. Further shots around the base of Nelson's Column. Brief shot of six planes flying overhead. MGH 5075 London 15 August 1945, VJ Day. Women standing on the top of a high protective brick wall at the front of a large pillared building throwing paper in to the street ("ticker-tape" style). Shots of feet walking over the paper on the pavement. Civilian men and women and American servicemen dancing in a circle in the street. More women throwing paper in to the street, this time it appears to be actual ticker-tape. A small group of women doing the Conga (dance) in the street. Two American servicemen and three women pose for the camera. One of the American servicemen, a staff sergeant, kisses one of the women. Woman wearing a newspaper tucked in her waist belt (newspaper headline "Japan Surrenders") and making the "V" sign whilst standing in front of a traffic light in Piccadilly Circus. Brief, rather dark shots, of crowds waiting to cross a road. Two American servicemen (one a corporal) and two young women strike a jokey pose for the camera. Brief shot of a group of WRNS (?) riding on the top of a car. Advertisement for the film "Blood on the Sun" outside a cinema. Crowds milling about including many servicemen and a man in civilian dress who had lost his right hand. Man perched precariously up a lamp post in Piccadilly Circus. Group of American servicemen and civilian women marching along the road, singing, shouting and holding an American Flag. Further shots of crowds in Piccadilly Circus the final shot shows the time on a clock advertising "Guinness" as 3.44pm. MGH 5076 London, Sasson driving a jeep (USA 20332903-S), pulls up and parks by a sign "Borough of Hackney Somerford Grove N16". Sasson (acting for the camera) steps out the jeep, looks at his watch then sits back in the Jeep and reads a newspaper (abrupt end). London, Hyde Park, Speaker's Corner. Shots of a crowds listening to various speakers. Sustained shot of one of the speakers, an elderly bearded man wearing a flat cap and a striped woollen scarf. The onlookers include a servicewoman holding a camera, a civilian woman wearing a white snood and a bespectacled black man. London, view of Piccadilly Circus from Regent Street. Sasson walking in to Piccadilly Circus from Regent Street and walking along the pavement towards the camera. Various shots of Piccadilly Circus including the protective hoarding covering the stature of "Eros". London, Hackney (continuation of the earlier enacted scene). Sasson walks up to the Jeep parked in Somerford Grove, looks around and then gets in to the jeep and drives off. Two American serviceman (one a corporal) run after the jeep, wave their arms and then shrug their shoulders. Sasson parks the jeep near to Marble Arch and then gets back in to the jeep and drives away. Brief shot of the back of a red London bus. London. Brief panning shot of a park (probably St James's Park). Traffic driving around the Queen Victoria Memorial outside of Buckingham Palace. Buses passing around Trafalgar Square in front of The National Gallery. Shot of a large brick built building with the tall chimney in the background (same brick built chimney as seen earlier). Exterior shot of The House of Simpson. London, Hackney (continuation of the earlier enacted scenes). The jeep parked on the pavement with the bonnet raised to look like the vehicle has been involved in an accident. Sasson is helped out of the driver's seat by another American servicemen (one of the "chasers" from the earlier scene) and hobbles away holding his back as if in pain. 1945, probably March. London area around Marble Arch.Civilians walking past, and looking at, damaged shop windows. American servicemen walking past the damaged window of Richard Shops. American servicemen, civilians, an ambulance and fire fighting vehicles in Hyde Park. Bomb damage in an area of Hyde Park near to Marble Arch - trees uprooted and broken fence. Two American sergeants walking over waterlogged grass looking for bomb fragments.(?). Group of service personnel and civilians looking at damaged buildings. Shot of the damaged exterior to a J Lyons & Co restaurant. Various views of the Cumberland Hotel, Oxford Street, showing the damaged windows. (Scenes probably show bomb damaged caused by a V2 rocket which landed near Speaker's Corner, Hyde Park, 18 March 1945.)
  • Alternative Title: AMATEUR FILM BY LIEUTENANT SIDNEY SASSON [Alternative Title]
  • Colour: Colour
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: MGH 5071-5076
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM
  • Featured Period:
  • Production Date: 1944 1945 1945
  • Production Country: United States of America GB
  • Production Details: Sasson, Sidney (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:girls in fountain Trafalgar Square, VE Day
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: Colour Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: VHS Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Running time: 90 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    MGH 5071-5076

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    MGH 6421 (SCENES IN LONDON, INCLUDING VJ DAY AND WREATH LAYING AT THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE, PARIS [Allocated Title])
Register