British Pathe

Reel 2.

01:36:59 High angle shot of BBC Broadcasting House in London. John Snaggs speaks. Allied naval forces land on northern coast of France - D Day. Good montage of soldiers wading through the sea from amphibious vehicles. Mulberry Harbour - panning shot showing many warships. Winston Churchill...

Reel 2.

01:36:59 High angle shot of BBC Broadcasting House in London. John Snaggs speaks. Allied naval forces land on northern coast of France - D Day. Good montage of soldiers wading through the sea from amphibious vehicles. Mulberry Harbour - panning shot showing many warships. Winston Churchill boarding a boat for France. C/U as he makes the V for Victory sign. L/S of battleship. Churchill boards a launch. C/U of Churchill and of Montgomery. They arrive in France. Bomber in flight. Churchill inspects guns with army officers. Bombs dropped, guns fired, explosions etc. De Gaulle and Churchill in Paris drive through streets standing in open topped car. Travelling shot of crowd lined Champs Elysees. C/U of Churchill on board a boat as he crosses the Rhine with the Americans. He is met by Montgomery. M/S of a bombed bridge. Churchill talks to troops. Large number of prisoners of war march past camera with hands in the air. Reverse angle shot of them walking away from the camera. Luneburg Heath - Field Marshal Montgomery receives the surrender of all German forces in North-West Germany, Holland and Denmark. Army and navy officers sign the surrender. Portentous music. Montgomery names the officers who sign (General Kinsel (sp?), Rear Admiral Wagner, Colonel Pollack (sp?), and Major Freid (sp?).) Montgomery signs last. C/U of him signing and C/U of the document, camera pans down it.

01:41:46 C/U of Churchill making a speech into radio microphone. He announces when hostilities will end. Pan of huge crowd of people gathered (in Trafalgar Square?) Crowd cheer and wave. (Possibly chanting - "We want Winnie...") Churchill on Buckingham Palace balcony with the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Mother) and Princesses Margaret and Elizabeth. Far East - troops in Burma. Troops march with carts of supplies drawn by water buffalo. British Servicemen - young soldier by a washing line is given a letter. Shirt less soldiers vote in a makeshift voting booth. Polling Station sign. Soldiers and civilians enter polling booths. A policeman places ballot box on the table. Crowds outside at night as the results come in. Churchill leaves 10 Downing St.

01:43:29 L/S of Winston Churchill painting a landscape under a parasol. Churchill at London Zoo holding out a piece of meat on a stick for his own lion who grabs it through the bars and walks away with it. Churchill at the races - C/U of him wearing top hat and of his racehorse. M/S of Churchill making a speech at Fulton, Missouri in America about peace and international co-operation. L/S and C/U of Churchill speaking at the Council of Europe on the same theme. C/U of newspaper headlines about election results. Churchill and Clementine walk up some steps - going to the poll at Woodford. They stand in front of barrage of microphones. Prime Minister once more, he waits for the arrival of Queen Elizabeth II as she returns from Kenya after the tragic death of her father. Plane arrives, Queen Elizabeth II disembarks. She shakes hands with Churchill and other dignitaries. Churchill poses while a young boy takes his photograph.

01:46:17 Westminster Abbey - coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Churchill wears the robes of a Knight of the Garter. Country house in Kent - christening of one of Churchill's grandchildren. Churchill pets the baby. C/U of the child. At No. 10 Downing Street celebrating his 80th birthday. Churchill and his wife look through their telegrams. Retirement in Westminster Hall. Churchill makes a speech. "..I am now nearing the end of my journey..." Queen Elizabeth II visits Churchill for dinner. He bows and shakes her hand and that of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh as they leave 10 Downing Street. The Churchill's go back inside. L/S of Chartwell. Churchill closes some windows and gives the V for Victory sign as he does so.

Credits: The Producers gratefully acknowledge the co-operation given by Liverpool Evening Express, Hills & Saunders, Odhams Press, Illustrated London News, BBC, and for access to the collection of the late Lady Leonie Leslie of Glaslough. Spoken by Emlyn Williams. Commentary Written by John Pudney. Music composed by Philip Green. Film Editor - Alexander Milner-Garner. Library Research - H.C. Wynder. Sound - George Newberry and Jack Miller. Dubbing Editor - Don Brewer. Production Manager - Terry Hunter. Associate Producer - Lionel Hoare. Produced by Terry Ashwood.

Note: Credits for Commonwealth version credits state "Spoken by David de Keyser" but the voices seem the same on both versions even though the commentary is slightly different. Mystery - perhaps the voiceover artist was fiddling his taxes!

There are two versions of this film - one is entitled "Commonwealth Version" - all cans are now held in vault 54B2.

Some prints have been condensed into two reels. This version transferred from two reel print.

Note: See documentation file for shot lists, commentaries etc.