Christmas Under Fire (1941) | BFI National Archive
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ธ.ค. 2008
- Christmas Under Fire (1941) | BFI National Archive. Subscribe: bit.ly/subscribetotheBFI
Despite the Blitz, it's 'business as usual' as England prepares for Christmas in this propaganda film intended for US audiences. It's a Christmas of holly and barbed wire, guns and tinsel, yet the British, we are told, are determined to make it as cheerful as possible.
"England is fighting for her life", asserts the American narrator, but it is admiration rather than pity that the film seeks to evoke. The filmmakers achieve this with emotions bigger than most 10-minute films could contain, as we watch plucky Londoners creating a subterranean Christmas on Underground platforms and the choristers of King's College sing their hearts out. While no doubt intended to encourage US support in the War, 'Christmas Under Fire' ultimately offers a portrait of a nation "unbeaten, unconquered and unafraid". (Poppy Simpson)
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it's officially christmas as i have watched this again, i do so every year.
the astonishing cut featuring a baby in the underground shelter over 'oh come let us adore him/ christ the lord' makes me cry with it's beauty.
From a former US sailor, thank God the British held on in those dark days of 1940-41. Your sacrafice saved many British and American lives and millions their freedom on the continent from the Iron Curtain. Thanks for posting.
Actually, England and USA was on the side of the Communists in WWII. We kept Stalin and his jews in power for 70+ years. America fought FOR Communism, and Communism/Judaism WON.
The scene at 8:11, with the people celebrating Christmas in the underground station, really chokes me up. It's so bittersweet. Despite the ongoing war above them, the people manage to make Christmas as cheerful as they possibly could, as if they know one day, this will all end. There's something really beautiful about that.
Did anybody else see the window cleaner sign halfway through the clip? "If you've no windows left we'll sweep your chimneys!"
Epic
I remember that Year of 1941 and that ‘ atmosphere ’ as though by some kind of gentle consent that it was the kids who mattered somehow…Oh our beautiful and steadfast stout hearted parents and elders…God bless them all, each and every one, in grateful memory…
And dear Quentin Reynolds…Great voice, great vocal tones, great spirit…RIP
Each time i see this i weep silently because i am so proud of how my people stood together under adversity. They suffered through terrible times but never lost their humanity. I was born during the second world war and i can still remember the aftermath, rationing, friends at school whose fathers never came home, the widows who had to struggle to bring up young children on only a widows pension and the never ending queues that i stood in as a young child with my mother. may it never come again.
Your testimony is touching... however SPARE A THOUGHT for THE SOVIET population of Russia, Belarus, the Baltic States and Ukraine.
BRITISH suffering in WWII may have been great
But the human suffering of the people of the SOVIET UNION has no parallel in the global conflict of BOTH World Wars!!!
@@TheFrenchFlame not sure it's a contest, all people suffered
@@TheFrenchFlame
Stalin sided with Hitler at first.
It took time for Britain to have sympathy.
My late London grandmother knitted garments for the Russian troops. Like many Brits, after Hitler turned on Russia etc. Which is why the recent Novichok incidents in the UK are so galling. Gran was hardly a commie either. She became an ardent Thatcherite- much to the dismay of my late father. Her husband was a spotter as mentioned in this. I still have his wartime binoculars. My mother could quite literally be the Blitz baby at the end of the film sleeping in the Underground with it's mother.
Later my mother's house was bombed and she and her mother had to be rescued from a hole in the roof. A V1 flying bomb/Doodle bug hit a few houses away. She's still alive.
Was it the siege of Leningrad?
Belsen, Dachau? Pol Pot's killing fields?
No. Who said it was?
But if a bomb fell on you.
@@TheFrenchFlame And what they do to Poland in 1939? They fraternises and celebrated their victory at Brest Litovsk with the Nazis, sold all the wheat and oil without question as to quantity to the Nazis, never asked the Brits whether they - Soviet Russians - could be of any assistance with their fighter aircraft, never empathised much less sympathised in Britain’s hour of need…In France the communists there were gratified by the German occupation forces allowing their Communist newspaper l’Humanité to be republished and Communist and fascist sympathisers freed and the Third Republic defeated.
More? Right, not caring two tuppenny fucks for the Geneva Convention rules on prisoners of war, the Russians then proceeded to execute - murder - twenty thousand Polish military officers and other civil servant officials with two bullets in their blessed craniums R.I.P., and exchange political refugees that had fled to either of the two totalitarian states and still on their death lists…like one distinguished lady Franco German communist who in the USSR held in a Gulag, was handed over by the NKVD to the Gestapo and kept in a Nazi prison camp…Somehow she survived, thank goodness.
More still? The Nazis wanted to wreak havoc in the Pacific against British and Dutch shipping but were restricted by the Atlantic being monitored by the Royal Navy. America, Russia and Japan were all still neutral or at least unengaged in the war as yet. They asked the Russians if they could be escorted to the Pacific via the North East Passage ie North of Siberia. No problem replied the Soviets and did so at a price. The Germans were beside themselves in glee and warmly praised the Soviet professional competence in safely assisting the Nazi Raider Komet through the ice-bound North East Passage. In the Pacific the Nazi Raider flew false flag identity to deceive allied merchant shipping throughout the Pacific Ocean. When finally the Germans did the dirty on their former Soviet Freunde and Brits offered help with Britain‘s number two fighter plane the Hawker Hurricane the Russians exploded with indignation „we want Spitfires not outdated rubbish!“ they demanded!
This video brought tears to my eyes... despite everyones comments that nationalism creates hate and that scotland and wales weren't mentioned... I can't help but feel slightly proud that everyone just got on with their daily lives even though London was getting the shite blown out of it. All those children happy just for a toy aeroplane when kids today want everything they see on tv. I admit I used to be one of them, but I have to hold my head up high and say I'm proud to be British. MERRY XMAS!
Emz351 same here :) this video has given me a new found respect for britain may our land stay great forever
' Nationalism Creates Hate' is a modern concept peddled to try and reinforce the notion that multiculuralism is a great thing. Those pushing this view ignore completely what has been known for all time, that people are tribal by nature and are always happier with their own kind - they are the ones consumed with hate. Nationalism is not hateful and usually results in a homogeneous and basically stable society.
Nationalism does not create hate & and you should be proud to be British Merry Christmas from Nashville ,Tennessee 🇺🇸🦅⚔️🎅🏻🤶🤠
I think that people generally miss the point that the Americans then (and sometimes now) say ''England'' meaning the whole of the UK.
nationalism creates exactly what you witnessed during the war, British supporting the British no terrorists.
I will by no means compare the war to the virus, but in many ways I feel the locked-down nature of both our Christmases shares some level of solidarity.
I agree. The people of London celebrated the birth of Christ in the underground station and we celebrated it in our homes alone, making it as wonderful as possible while hoping that better times will return.
Imagine if we go back in time and experience the Christmas during the war. We are so lucky in this generation that we celebrate Christmas in style and we are bursting with all the extravagance we can get during the festive season. So, in every year of the Christmas we have, we should not forget to thank for all the luck we have in this life.
A very moving film. I was born in London in February, 1941 and started primary school just after the end of the war. Some of my earliest memories relate to the war and what it did in my home area. Thanks for the posting.
davidnash. Well said - I left school soon after the war.
Thank you for uploading this video. I‘m German and born in 1979. Growing up and realizing that my country, my home and fatherland, that I love so much from the bottom of my heart, was responsible for bringing tears, death and fire over the whole continent of that time makes me ashamed even today. The British of that time fought not only for their own country, in the last consequence they also fought for a Germany in freedom. A Germany that I grew up in and that I can be proud of for today.
Dunbargame well said!
Germany was as much a victim under Hitler as everywhere else. you have nothing to feel guilty about. The Germans were forced into supporting the barbaric Austrian or else they faced death. You could say that the second World war was not so much a war with Germany, but a liberation from the evil's of Nazism. Your ancestors were not responsible either. War is War. What choice does anyone have when it comes to fighting against each other?
It wasn't the country -- it was the leaders, those known and those in the shadows. Just like in today's times. Think of this, My ancestors were part German; and yet, my American maternal grandfather and numerous great -uncles were over their fighting against distant relatives.
Germany also fought for its freedom and country. The trouble with the Nation was that Adolf Hitler believed that the Reich would win by will power which was nonsense. He also forgot that another nation's security was also Germany's. To invade Poland and then get the USSR as your neighbour was lunacy. Hitler also lacked compassion on others. It was a disaster as a result.
As we approach another Christmas, let us never forget that everywhere in the world today, we all face uncertainty and to some extent fear. There are parallels between then and now with all of our futures in some doubt. Let us all hope that cooler heads prevail. That populations not fall sway to the diabolical forces that seem to be bent on destroying our cultural & societal norms that have built & sustained all of our nations for centuries. Let us all go forth with hope that more rational thinking will prevail. Let us hope that the world will realize that freedom for all mankind is the greatest test of man. You my friend, need not bear the guilt of the past. It was not of your making. Learn from the past. To allow these events to ever occur again makes us all guilty.
This was our finest hour.
Now a we couldnt be like this of course because the muslims wont fight on our side.
This made me weep real tears!!!
How moving! I am sitting here crying 😢
What a stunning report. Makes me so very proud to be a Londoner.
Beautiful film. Chills from it. I love the country of my mother so very much.
Me too, and mighty proudly so, The Good Lord in Heaven bless her…for ever and ever, RIP Amen
Thank you for sharing this video with us. It is a great cretit to the British people remaining so strong at the darkest hour and in this instant, providing Christmas for the children regardless of the war. These were tough times and people were great.
Amazing. It certainly was our finest hour and we certainly proved ourselves worthy of that high honour! I'm really moved and touched by this video.
My mum was 12. Now at 95 in a horrid nursing home. They have no idea. I’m getting her out this week. 3rd home Alzheimer’s. Living hell. For both of us.
Yup, up until the 60's, I recall seeing these and other 'battle sets' in Sears, Woolworth's and other stores with toys.
Then the outsourcing to Japan, and Taiwan began and these magnificent hand painted relics disappeared.
The narrator of this film is Quentin Reynolds who was a news reporter for Collier's Magazine which was a weekly publication which competed with Life and Look Magazines. The film was distributed in North America to educate Americans about British resistance to the Nazis and the terrors and horrors inflicted upon Britain for defying Hitler. Quoth Mr. Reynolds, "Destiny gave her [England] the torch of liberty to hold, and she has not dropped it." Good propaganda.
My grandmother had to celebrate Christmas this way.
"Come let us adore Him. Christ the Lord." The Prince of Peace still. In May. In 2020. In life and in death and in Life again.
Thank you for sharing this short yet inspirational video. LL
Thank you for posting this. My mother was in London for some of the Blitz, a horrifying experience.
And many other things, like going into full war production right at the very start of the war, unlike in Germany (where there were as many domestic servants at the end of the war as at the start).
God bless them all.
Two of the many churches recognised in this clip.
At (1:40 & 5:05) is St Mary the Virgin, Turville, where Sir John Mortimer QC was buried. Used for the TV Series "The Vicar of Dibley". Behind is the windmill on the hill which featured as Caractacus Pott's house in the film 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'.
At 6:00, not far from Turville, is St Bartholomew Church, Fingest.
Thank you so much for posting this. What an interesting look back.
Dunbargame
You were born in 1979 you need not feel guilt.
Six miles from my home there is a commonwealth war graves cemetery which I visit each year to give thanks to those who gave their lives to enable me to live free.
One hundred yards farther down the road is a German military cemetery. I also go there as well. I go to honour the ordinary brave soldiers and airmen who lost their lives.
As Churchill said at the end of the war. "Bridges must be built between nations"
We liked a few of their military staff eg. rommel desert fox
Though my german family did know "bomb nights" (Bombennächte) too, this film makes me so sorry and "moved me to tears". That bad time makes me so angry against the stinking nazis. And I am bewildered, why does national oriented policy raise its ugly face again in Europe?
If it makes you feel better, remember that it was the british that declared war on Germany and not the other way around. And remember that the brits bombed german cities first. Also remember that Great Britain once controlled 25% of the World by invading big parts of Asia and Africa and ruled with an iron fist.
Nationalism isn't bad per se. It's basically the idea that peoples have the right to their own lands and decide their own fates. The best nationalism brings the people together, to cooperate and care for eachother, and respect their land, nature and ancestry. It's also to respect other nations and their rights.
The opposite is imperialism and internationalism, the idea that a certain ideology should rule over the whole Earth, and that all the different peoples and cultures must disappear and become a rootless mass under the rulers. Crass capitalism and marxism are internationalist ideologies.
When I travel to Germany I want to meet germans and experience german culture, not arabic of african. I would travel to the middle east or africa to experience those cultures. The places where they have evolved under millennia. Where their roots and natural enviroments are. Would you travel to China only to see Starbucks, McDonalds and European tourists, or would you prefer to meet chinese people and see their culture and history?
"If it makes you feel better, remember that it was the british that declared war on Germany and not the other way around." Germany invaded both Poland and Czechoslovakia, Britain and France had an agreement with Poland to protect it. It wasn't like Britain wanted war with Germany, Germany wanted war with Europe however, it was part of Nazi ideology.
Is this the great Ed Murrow? HMG gave him his head, and unlimited access to London, to get the message across to the USA which was still isolationist.
His great broadcast was the Evacuation of London. Still brings tears to my eyes ( and not just becaiuse my Mother was sent out to safety and then brought back to London in time for the Blitz). This is reporting at the highest level.
Thanks for posting this, I've been looking for it. Still very relevant.
When British troops liberated Belsen camp, any doubts that the troops had about the justness of the war vanished when they saw 13,000 emaciated corpses in heaps, and 60,000 seriously ill prisoners. Personally, I'm glad that the British honoured their treaty with Poland, and later decided to carry on the war even when there seemed no hope of winning it. If they hadn't, would Stalin have stopped where he did, or would France have joined the Soviet bloc?
I enjoyed this ..thank you
Love this little Xmas short
This makes me proud to be English
An amazing generation, humbling.
We could never thank that lot enough.
Jim Jordan. I am, more or less, one of that generation, and I am disgusted with the disrespect we receive from the current generation.
Poignant and stoic. A timely reminder of Christmas past.
Nice narration. Easy to listen to.
One of my favourite PIF's, priceless
Thx for uploading
2023
Everyone British realises and appreciates the efforts of all our home nations.
The film only refers to 'England' as that is/was often the way that Americans and some Europeans refer to the country, especially as the reporter was actually in London, England etc.
Not to mention that Sealion was put on hold indefinitely after the Battle of Britain in which there were very few American pilots. Granted there was the tremendous supplies given but Americans churping up saying they saved Britain from being taken over by joining the war is just a bit overexaggerated when by the time they joined there would have been no invasion.
as an east ender, i find this video, and others like it, really humbling.
They gave so much, they gave US so much, and what have we done with it? would WE give as much for future generations?
Thank you for serving!
Oh it's not so strange. They are acting out against the enemy in the only way available to them.
You see, back then Soldiers were truly heroes that kids held in respect and honor... Unlike todays society.
No disrespect to some of the comments below. But the United Kingdom of Great Britian & N.Ireland stood for over a year on it own against the might of the Axis powers.
Russia was support the Nazi by supply them with fuel until Barossa.
The USA was in isolation mode until 1942.
Merry christmas to everyone, and this vid made me think about how strong the human spirit really is and we should all be proud of that regardless of our origins.........P.S. During the blitz the camera view is always on London but does anyone out know what the second largest city that suffered horrifically during the blitz?
Well said mate.
Beautiful.
Some posters her can't tell the difference between propaganda and rhetorical journalism. Propaganda is a 'system of the dissemination of doctrine to effect certain behavior that were not there previous or that are desired." I have interviewed Blitz survivors, now old and this reflects the exact attitude that was present, not one that was manufactured.
When the second World War came to an end,
we forgave the Germans and then we were friends.
The Germans now too have God on their side.
I am German and deeply impressed.
Thanks for the moments.
thanks
@dangoat2009: Propaganda is not necessarily a bad thing. It functions to disseminate and to strengthen a particular way of understanding the world, and whether that's a good or bad thing depends on the how/where/why of its use. Of course it reflects the attitudes of survivors: they were a product of it, and, importantly, it was a product of them, as no propaganda can create attitudes whole and entire from nothing, it can only amplify and direct what's already there.
As true today in 2024 as it was during WW2. Never forget.
God bless Britain 🇬🇧
Odd that I caught a bit of NYC footage here and there while he was talking about London.
The reporter was based in London, and made a film about England. I see nothing wrong about that. had he been in Cardiff, he might have made a film about Wales. For all I know, he also made another one about Wales. Making a film about one place makes no disrespect about another. Don't be so chippy.
Ahh the good old days,a cup of tea in the air raid shelter.
Back when we had some balls and a backbone!
hopefully never have to go through that again the way the world is now you never can tell
Extremely tough times... People and families living in tube tunnels.
Shrouded. They didn't 'live' in the tunnels, they went there overnight during the raids.
@Golfboy4747 Perhaps this documentary is only on England? Im sure he is aware of the fact scots fought, and the welsh, and the Americans, and the Russians, and the polish, and the Canadians, Australians and all the allies all fought and died, so i dont think this is being intentionally disrespectful to the scots or welsh.
@BlindEyeProduction
The Russians were fighting for themselves,most russian troops fought against one major front from Germans,English,Canadians,Americans,Australians and numerous other brave men and women fought all over the world against enemy opposition.
All countries who fought with the allied forces did tremendous and courageous work,one single nation against the axis countries could not succeed.
This is no discredit to the Russian people who fought against great odds.
Both are recommended (see reviews on Amazon books):
"The Wounded Don't Cry," Quentin Reynolds; E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. (1941)
"By Quentin Reynolds," Q.R.; McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. (1963)
🚃🚂🚃🚂🚃🚂🚃🚂🚃🚂
Does anyone know what Train Station that is at the end of the Film?.🤔
🚂🚃🚂🚃🚂🚃🚂🚃🚂🚃
This clip was on talking pictures recently
@NellaN1337 Would you explain that please?
Can you imagine if this generation lived back then? Would we be speaking German?
Interesting and touching.
Didn't know that they actually had toy sets of the Maginot Line. Eat your heart out, G.I.Joe Command Center!
@dangoat2009: Helping to keep those attitudes alive under terrible circumstances was one of the jobs of the men and women working at the Ministry of Information, and they did their jobs well, and to a good end. The film industry during the war for the most part enthusiastically and conscientiously followed guidelines set out by the MOI. Where is the shame in recognising and valuing their very real contribution to the war?
I'm here because of 'Diary of a wartime affair'.
@idle44 It's Quentin Reynolds, like it says.
@TheJunglesound 1941, no-one knew about them in the UK at that time.
1:08 This man was shortly arrested after filming for his brutal serial killings of innocent trees
😂
@JustAnotherAmy I agree that propaganda is not per se right or wrong but quite plastic, to be moulded to the good or bad. British propaganda was produced of course, some good some bad, some true, some false but within the nature of war that's expected. I was trying to say that this clip was not propaganda at all. Some posters have had a knee jerk reaction to it calling it propaganda because it is historic, made during a conflict and showed emotive scenes.
Great film. but surely 1940 not 1941?
+John Whale It does show Christmas 1940 but wasn't released until early the following year, hence the date of 1941.
@@ashbytimuk Oscar nominated in the short documentary section 1941. It didnt win. Churchill's Island did.
im not british im english and proud to be
A stirring look at Formerly Great Britain in her darkest hour. Makes me proud to be of English blood.
We felt safe on underground stations from air raids, now I feel unsafe in (peacetime) with Islamic threats of terrorism.
A reminder of what is was like to like in a British society with social cohesion. Something that was recently destroyed by New Labour.
@MrPiens
He actually looks like him.
The English ARE British too, but have their own heritage independent of Welsh, Scots, Irish. Noone would deny them their nationality, would they? Oh yes, the fucking EU would.
British morale was being boosted to fight oppression, cruelty and aggression. Germany was trying to conquer, terrorize and subjugate which is more difficult to export.
You mean kinda like what Brittain has done in Africa, Scottland, Ireland, Australia, and the US ?
They were fighting for their lives and nearly lost. There is a monotonous American parade of cliches, that is this clips only sin. Propoganda should be looked up in the dictionary before being slapped on everything like cheap tomato sauce. The English people that survived it and lived through it should be proud of their resilience. and those who use words without dictionaries, ashamed.
More should view this poignant film.
...lest we forget.
yeah, you're right. But alot of civvies i know would cower.
Very true, but both the British and Germans shipped their propaganda overseas. Goebbels himself commented on a Hitchcock made propaganda movie with the phrase, "Why can't we do that?" German propaganda was always based around a very teutonic point of view, the British knew how to appeal to a wide western audience, especially the United States.
Yeah that's true. We're fighting the war well out there. Sad thing is, we shouldn't be fighting it at all.
@lopzilla That's kinda sad
So telling that the narrator says he is bringing the film to the United States, to explain to them what Britain is doing with little to no official support from America. Did anyone watching this program, almost like a newsreel, in a movie theater in Chicago or Denver, Los Angeles or Boston, feel moved to write their member of Congress? Did they call for more arms, food or supplies for Britain, or were they thinking, 'glad it's not me back in the Old Country'?
Public support for sending aid gradually increased as it became clear that the UK would not give up.
8:50 Stalin????😂😂😂
We still have a certain amount of resolve today. We just get involved in stupid wars that we really shouldn't be in.
Sentimental in the old USA way...but still interesting.
@andwhynotindeed
So, you are saying I'm right, just haggling over the numbers.
8:51 omg Stalin
America in a matter of days before or after this release went to war. Its colonies: The Philippines, Guam invaded.
of course its bound to be focused on london thats the capital city ,if you get an inch of snow in london the whole country knows everything about it of course this was real serious stuff and london was the main target for the krauts,and took a real hammering the americans could relate more to london getting hammered and that was the intention of the film, the americans had good reasons for not entering the war as they seen europeans as war mongerers and at the time had a good point ,, a scouser
ALL of Europe suffered, one way or another, just so happens the London was played as an under dog, when all of the isles, especially the industries, and then and only then, when hitler he could not break the English spirit, did he decide on civilians, but his heart was not on England, it was on Russia, a cold heart that cost Germany the War!
Astro piazzola libertando
Ukrainians had to have the same kind of Christmas as Russia rained hell on them, and continues to do so. History has always rhymed.