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

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  • Title: SCENES IN LONDON, INCLUDING VJ DAY AND WREATH LAYING AT THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE, PARIS [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: MGH 6421
  • Other titles: AMATEUR FILM BY LIEUTENANT SIDNEY SASSON [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: Amateur film shot by Lieutenant Sidney Sasson of the US Signal Corps, Army Pictorial Service. Colour footage shot in London in 1945 including film of VJ Day, 15 August 1945. Black and white footage of an unidentified wreath laying at the Arc de Triomphe, Paris, probably also 1945.
  • Description: 1945 (?), London. Exterior shots of theatres in the Piccadilly area of London - The Windmill Theatre, Great Windmill Street "We Never Closed", Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue advertising "Duet for Two Hands" and The Globe Theatre advertising "While The Sun Shines". Shot of the Duke of York's Column, Waterloo Place, Carlton House Terrace. Panning shot of Buckingham Palace. Close-up of the statue of Queen Victoria on the Queen Victoria Memorial outside of Buckingham Palace. Further shots of the Palace and the Memorial. Changing of the guard on sentry duty outside of Buckingham Palace (soldiers wearing battle-dress). 15 August 1945, London, VJ Day. Piccadilly Circus, American soldier seated in top of a traffic light waving a small American flag and holding a newspaper with the headline "Japan Surrenders". Large crowd of people waiting to cross a road. Line of red London buses passing. Crowds milling around in Piccadilly Circus, a mixture of civilians and servicemen (many American). Brief shot of a Royal Navy officer (?) using a cine camera. 1945, London. Interior shots of a London railway station, probably Charing Cross. View of platform gates and a poster detailing "Holiday Trains". Shots of the exterior of a W H Smith & Son newsagent and bookseller. Dark interior shots of people passing through the station concourse. Black and white footage, Paris probably 1945. Soldiers lined up on Avenue Kléber, with a military cameraman visible in the foreground. Long shot of three aircraft flying overhead. Military march past in front of the Arc de Triomphe. Civilians and various military personnel, including members of the RAF and also several American servicemen carrying cameras, looking on from Avenue Kléber. Wreath being laid by an unidentified French Officer (with a shortened right leg). Brief shot of Gendarmes directing the small crowd.
  • Alternative Title: AMATEUR FILM BY LIEUTENANT SIDNEY SASSON [Alternative Title]
  • Colour: Colour
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: MGH 6421
  • Sound: B&W
  • Access Conditions: IWM
  • Featured Period:
  • Production Date: 1945-08-15 1945
  • Production Country: United States of America
  • Production Details: Sasson, Sidney (Lieutenant) (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: Colour Sound format: B&W Soundtrack language: Silent Title language: None Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 16mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 200 ft; Running time: 8 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    MGH 6421

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    MGH 5071-5076 (VIEWS OF CORNWALL, LOCATIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND SCENES IN LONDON INCLUDING VE DAY AND VJ DAY CELEBRATIONS [Allocated Title]) MGH 5105 (VJ DAY AND HISTORIC SCENES IN LONDON [Allocated Title]) MGH 5106 (WARTIME WEDDING IN LONDON AND HONEYMOON IN ST IVES OF AN AMERICAN SERVICEMAN AND HIS ENGLISH BRIDE [Allocated Title])
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