AMATEUR FILM BY ALFRED COUCHER [Alternative Title]

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


  • Title: AMATEUR FILM BY ALFRED COUCHER [Alternative Title]
  • Film Number: MGH 6810
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Amateur film shot by Alfred Edwin Reneson Coucher when serving as Chief Air Raid Warden of St Marylebone records scenes in Central London during the Blitz and post-war events, including the Festival of Britain in 1951, as well as other scenes in the district of St Marylebone, where he served as Mayor from 1946 to 1948.
  • Description: Reel 1: (Tape 1: 00 .00 - 20.30) Travel scenes, more often focused on buildings than scenes of local life, during pre-war cruises and journeys to North Cape, Hammerfest, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin, Potsdam, Delft, Rotterdam, Boulogne, Lisbon, Cintra, Granada, Pompeii, Athens, Rhodes, Istanbul, Tangier. [UK Kodak date code 1938] Reel 2: (Tape 1: 20.30 - 29.10) Scenes on River Thames: Tower Bridge closing, RN ships, past Greenwich on ferry with fellow passengers (with some bomb damage to buildings visible), past dock cranes, lock closing, variety of ship names.[UK Kodak date code 1942] Reel 3: (Tape 1: 29.10 - 41.08) Instructional film in colour for the use of ARP (Air Raid Precaution) fire wardens shows examples of various bombs, with explanatory titles, for comparative identification purposes: French incendiary bomb, German metal container to hold 36 incendiary bombs, British 2KG incendiary bomb, IBEN bomb (Incendiary Bomb with Explosive Nose), British Mills bomb, French 2lb incendiary bomb, French 5lb IBEN, German Sprengbrand C50 bomb containing high explosive and "Firepots" in 50KG bomb casing, demonstration in summer garden by man in ARP blue uniform (Chief Air Raid Warden Alfred Coucher?), Army officer addressing crowd of wardens, preparations prior to detonating explosive device covered by sandbags, dealing with broken gas mains by covering flaming gas pipe with clay ("Women can do this easily"). Reel 4: (Tape 2: 00.00 - 09.58) Commercial newsreels for home screening: Fox Photos Film at Home Pictorial No 15 - Boy King in London - King Peter II. (09.58 - 14.29) Kodak Cine-Kodagraph - Oxford win boat race. (14.29 - 28.11) BMN Review of 1936 - Year of Destiny. [COMMERCIAL NEWSREEL] Reel 5: (Tape 2: 14.29 - 28.11) BMN Review of 1936 - Year of Destiny. [COMMERCIAL NEWSREEL] Reel 6: (Tape 2: 28.11 - 31.14) Colour. Buildings ablaze at night during Blitz of London [UK Kodak date code 1941], followed by daytime scenes of wrecked cars and buildings (possibly a church) gutted by bombing. [US Kodak date code 1939] THE LAST ARMISTICE PARADE. Local parade in Marylebone by British Legion veterans and other groups on misty November day [UK Kodak date code 1942]; close-ups of Mayor (with moustache and spectacles) and VIPs, all bearing First World War decorations. 16mm camera visible on tripod. Three London policemen ("bobbies") pose for camera. Reel 7: (Tape 2: 31.27 - 32.38) Firemen practise rescue from practice tower, in summer, making use of tall extendable ladders to reach upper floors; fire engine arrives. Shot of well dressed ladies, and several men in uniform, standing on steps of church, [possibly St Marylebone Parish Church] ["Stand down parade" jotted on film box.] [UK Kodak date code 1947] Reel 8: (Tape 2: 33.01 - 35.20) Brief shot of Parliament from Westminster Bridge. Mrs Coucher (?) in rhododendron-filled garden, early summer. Sign indicates The Church of St Mary-le-Bow (Bow Bells). Post-war London ruins, with summer flowers. Corporation of London sign - This bombed site is one of a number which the Corporation have cleared and improved. Sign indicates Cheapside - "severely damaged by enemy action Sept 1940 to May 1941". Summer garden. Tilt up and down St Paul's Cathedral. View from Greenwich Observatory to the Old Royal Navy College and across the River Thames. Smoking chimneys, port and ferry scenes. Reel 9: (Tape 2: 35.26 - 38.31) Colour. Alfred Coucher (?, fair haired), as Mayor of St Marylebone (1946-1948), speaks into microphone, then accompanied by VIP (local MP?) and wife, distributes brown boxes (containing food?) for elderly indigent citizens of the London borough. Then same scene from different angle, recording close-ups of poor Londoners of alll ages from the immediate post-war period. Reel 10: (Tape 3: 00.00 - 02.06) Colour. As part of the Lord Mayor's Show (9 November 1938), ceremonial parade of floats celebrating a variety of sporting activities and historic periods (hockey, bathing beauties, mediaeval, archery, boxing, gymnastics, military prowess, etc) precedes the passage of the Lord Mayor of London's state coach along a main street in the City of London.. (02.06 - 06.00) B&W film of the same event, with theme now identified as "Keeping Fit through the Ages", with banner "Join the London Auxiliary Fire Service", and a BBC Outside Broadcast (?) camera van visible. Representations of Victorian era costume, golf, cycling, fencing, dancing, rowing, netball, Association football, rugby, lawn tennis, "Beer is best", cricket, riding, climbing, athletics, hockey, swimming, archery, skating and boxing follow. (06.00 - 06.43) Mrs Coucher with two sons (aged ca 14 and 10) playing shove halfpenny, and version of hop scotch on bricks. (06.43 - 10.00) "Celebration in London of the Birthday of His Majesty the King" Faded colour of invitation to Trooping the Colour on Thursday June 9th 1938, and the ceremony itself. (10.00 - 16.00) Colour. Rugby match of team wearing blue and white stripes versus team in red, then another match between team in black and yellow (Wasps ?) and team in black. Men's lacrosse match at Lord's Cricket Ground.. Cars outside Wembley Stadium during the London Olympic Games of July - August 1948, with high angle views from top of stadium of events, including women's relay race. Police clear route for end of men's marathon race. (16.00 - 18.26) Colour. State opening of Parliament by King George VI (1949 according to note in can, though Kodak stock date is 1955) with state carriages proceeding along Horse Guards Parade, and in Parliament Square, facing Whitehall, with Big Ben indicating time as 10.55am. Reel 11: (Tape 3: 18.42 - 30.12) B&W. "The Royal Jubilee 1935. London Prepares" Scenes in London, and at the Royal Navy Review, Spithead (latter definitely newsreel). [COMMERCIAL NEWSREEL] Reel 12: (Tape 4: 00.00 - 03.08) PAGES FROM ST MARYLEBONE'S WAR DIARY. "The King reviews National Service Volunteers in Hyde Park, July 9th 1939" Uniformed members from service and voluntary organisations including the newly formed Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS), the Red Cross and St.John`s Ambulance and a group bearing a St Marylebone placard parade past King George VI (not visible). (03.08 - 04.24) Sign indicates UXB (Unexploded bomb) Hole of Entry in Clay, 38 feet deep. "Small block of flats (Foley Street) demolished 3 1/2 hours after 100KG UXB found in basement. "All that is left of John Lewis and Co, Oxford Street, September 1940" London buses drive past ruins. John Evans Department store. (04.24 - 08.34) "Where's your Gas Mask? The Mayor inaugurates Respirator Week, March 17 1941" The Mayor's Bomber Fund wanted £20,000 to buy a bomber" Ceremony on steps of St Marylebone Town Hall, Marylebone Road. man wearing gas mask picks up mace. Parade. "Baker Street Bazaar (Druce and Co) is burnt out May 10 1941" The burnt-out remains of Druce's Depository, a large furniture and upholstery showroom on the corner of Baker Street and Blandford Street, Marylebone. "War Weapons Week May 17 1941. Target £500,000. Collected £1,421,657" (08.34 - 12.23) Mayor standing on steps of St Marylebone Town Hall watches marchpast along Marylebone Road by volunteers, with Moon's Garage visible in background, and London County Council (LCC) fire tenders driving past. (12.23 - 15.22) "Winston Churchill reviews Civil Defence Volunteers in Hyde Park, July 14 1941" The Prime Minister and Mrs Clementine Churchill arrive and watch parade, with barrage balloon visible high overhead, and newsreel cameras recording the occasion. Crowd hip-hip hurray Churchill. Wreckage of car. Sign announces "St Marylebone's Warship Week March 21st-28th [1942]" (15.22 - 16.15) "St Marylebone's Books Salvage Drive, June 5th - 19th [1943 ?]" Girls and men drop off books destined to be sent, "after scrutiny by experts, to the Forces, National Archives, Blitzed Libraries and Salvage". Reel 13: (Tape 4: 16.25 - 30.24) THINGS A WARDEN SHOULD KNOW Photographed by A E Reneson Coucher, Chief Warden, Marylebone. Production assisted by Capt J C Ree of the Air Ministry and Capt Emlyn-Jones, Bomb Disposal Section, RE (Royal Engineers) Instructional film with explanatory titles. Reel 14: (Tape 5: 00.00 - 32.23) Untitled compilation in colour of scenes from the Festival of Britain, May - September 1951, records many aspects of this national celebration, ranging from privileged views of several official ceremonies and visits by royalty and VIPs (presumably known to the cameraman), to the variety of modernist designs and popular installations, seen being enjoyed by Londoners of all generations. Extended coverage of boat pageant on River Thames, passing in front of the Royal Festival Hall, includes signs advertising British Coal and Sugar. Elsewhere (outside London?) crowds watch motor racing round track on summer day. Further scenes shot on the River Thames include several Motor Torpedo Boats near the Houses of Parliament. Spring flowers (tulips) in St James' Park and shields featuring Britain's colonies and states (Gibraltar, Malta, Tasmania, Uganda, etc) line the Mall. Reel 15: (Tape 6: 00.00 - 37.19) LONDON'S GREEN HERITAGE - SOME ASPECTS OF THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL PARKS Colour film with explanatory titles promotes and celebrates the extensive range of facilities made available to Londoners through the efforts of the LCC. People of all ages are seen enjoying a wide range of activities, ranging from formal and informal sports to cultural performances at the Finsbury Open Air Theatre ("Merrie England"), the Three Arts Ballet at Brockwell Park and a Punch and Judy Show for children. Scenes of the Norwegian Ski Jump on Hampstead Heath, with snow specially imported from Norway (March 1950). Fairground scenes on Clapham Common. Annual Open Air Exhibition on the Victoria Embankment. Sculptures on display in Battersea Park. Peace of Hainault Forest contrasts with children in the post-war ruins in parts of London. "This gay and beautiful London is free - it is yours, it is yours!" (Production date 1950?)
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: Colour
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: MGH 6810
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: NON-IWM
  • Featured Period:
  • Production Date:
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Coucher, Alfred E Reneson (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer (person)
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: Colour Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: VHS (1); DVD (6) Number of items/reels/tapes: 7
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    MGH 6810

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:
Register