Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows colour home-movie footage of a parade of nations in Adelaide during the Second World War, possibly in 1944 or 1945. The first scene is of two lines of Boy Scouts carrying large flags, followed by a float representing Great Britain. A series of floats, trucks, horse-drawn vehicles, bands and marchers from a range of countries follow. The scene switches to the other side of the road or another location where some of the same floats are seen again.

Educational value points

• The parade of nations in the clip represents many of the countries or peoples fighting against the remaining Axis powers (Germany and Japan) in 1944 or 1945. The major Allied powers – the USA, the USSR, China and Great Britain – are represented. Featured also are countries that had been invaded by Germany or Japan and where campaigns of resistance were being fought, such as France, or where large numbers of their nationals were fighting for the Allies, such as Poland and Norway.

• Many of the floats may have been created by people from the countries represented, living in Adelaide. The resources of flags, costumes and other accessories that were able to be gathered in wartime Adelaide give an indication of some diversity in a city traditionally regarded as the most British of Australian capitals in the pre-War period.

• The first float shown in the clip represents Great Britain. At the front is the head of the British bulldog, in the middle the figure of Britannia and at the back a curious collection of people. The woman in the sari represents India, then part of the British Empire and making a substantial contribution to the war effort. No sign was required for this float. The flag and symbols were immediately recognisable.

• China is represented by a group of young people wearing traditional dress and carrying banners and a flag. China had been at war with Japan intermittently since 1931 when Japan invaded Manchuria. Full-scale war began in 1937. The Chinese flag shown in the clip was the flag of China at the time, when it was led by Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist party. It is now the flag of Taiwan, where the Nationalists retreated after the Communists took over mainland China in 1949.

• The float representing Yugoslavia makes a strong political statement by displaying the royal arms and the colours of the Serbian flag. Yugoslavia had been defeated by Germany in April 1941 and the Communist partisans, headed by Josip Tito (1892–1980) and supported by the Allies, led the struggle against them. The symbols on the float may represent the Serbian government and royal family who fled to London or support for Draza Mihailovic (1893–1946), a Serbian general who was fighting both Tito and the Germans.

• Parades such as this attracted crowds because they were colourful visual spectacles. In the time before television, such spectacles, apart from sporting events, were uncommon. They were particularly uncommon during the privations of the War years. The highlights of parades in Australia from the 1930s to 1960s were elaborately decorated floats that completely covered the trucks which propelled them. Marching bands such as the fife band shown here were also common in rural centres.

• The footage was shot by John Roberts, an indefatigable maker of home movies in Adelaide during the War. As shown by the clip, Roberts’ film technique was straightforward. Here he used two different locations, set up his camera in a fixed position and simply filmed the parade, often in close-up, as it passed by. In spite of the amateur technique, the footage does give an impression of what it would have been like to be at the parade.

• Most film stock before the 1950s was black and white, but colour film was available and was occasionally used during the War, as seen here. Film processing and gauges were still being developed at this time, so colour film was expensive and not commonly used.