WWII at the Pictures

An American G.I. learns how to brew a proper English cuppa in this jolly wartime ad for Maypole tea.

Fun-filled singalong savings ad with a dangerously catchy theme tune.

Fun mixture of natural history and wartime public information.

Stirring trailer for renowned war documentary Desert Victory - coming to a screen near you!

A pair of 'nude' dancers find a new way of doing their bit for the boys in this fun propaganda short

An entertaining wartime promotional film for the National Savings campaign thatshoehorns in three variety acts.

A commercially produced Ministry of Information film, explaining how vital information could be carelessly leaked to prying enemy ears on the home front.

Only a witch would be wicked enough to help Hitler on washing day, warns this fun wartime soap powder ad.

A documentary picture of an Air Raid Wardens’ post during the Second World War, demonstrating cooperation between its workers and the community.

A commercially made Ministry of Information film, explaining how vital information could be carelessly leaked to prying enemy ears on the home front.

Humphrey Jennings and Harry Watt’s famous GPO film is an enduring example of British self-mythology; a hymn to London’s resilience that helped persuade America to join the war.

Matter-of-fact wartime instruction in how to fit your gas mask efficiently - leaving no margin for error.

An English Bull Terrier warns wartime cinema goers to put their cigarettes out with more care.

Women on the factory floor? An engineer needs convincing that war work is a feminine pursuit.

An indefatigable district nurse crisscrosses her rural patch to tend to the sick at home and on the farm.

Hard work on the home front: the story of the 'reserved occupations'.

Humphrey Jennings and Stewart McAllister's masterly collage of the various people and classes of Britain - at home and at work, at war and at peace - is one of the great films of war-time Britain.

This Vim ad cleverly adopts the guise of a wartime public information filler.

Use Rinso and help defeat Hitler! The soap brand deploys some savvy wartime advertising.

"Is everybody happy? YES!" Children were both seen and heard, loudly singing along to this jolly anthem at Odeon National Cinema Clubs across Britain

An Ealing councillor fervently implores local cinemagoers to Dig for Victory!

Will Hay's 'silly ass' sidekick Claude Hulbert is excellent in this ingenious wartime savings propaganda comedy short.

Entertaining and evocative Fleet Air Arm drama-doc propaganda piece, written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

The glitz and glamour of 1930s Hollywood is evoked in this short film, wishing cinema audiences a Happy New Year, ushering in what proved to be the very dark year of 1939.

The young, old and infirm are evacuated from Blitz-hit cities in this moving testament to Britain's wartime organisational prowess.

Glamour comes to wartime Folkestone as the town hosts its first world film premiere.

A pacy trailer for Launder and Gilliat's 2000 Women, about incarcerated women who hide a British airman.

German trailer for a rare British wartime thriller about love, treachery and a missing 50,000 dollars.

This typically energetic trailer for a British-made Warner Bros. wartime drama certainly does its job.

Powerful and sometimes disturbing account of Britain's defences against enemy attack - made six months before WWII.

Two daft 'goofers' cause trouble by staying outside while an air battle rages overhead in this punchy WWII public information film.

A thoughtful Christmas message in hope of peace from early in WWII - the absence of loved ones hit hardest at holiday times.

A taxing issue for the post-war film industry - cinema owners make their case in this silent plea

Following one family from 1944 onwards, this film tells the story of the women who worked to keep the home fires burning. An affecting tribute to the vital role women played ensuring that husbands, sons and daughters had something to come home to.

Shell stories from around the world feature in their corporate news magazine for 1946.