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Clip description
This clip from a home movie filmed by Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies on his tour from England to the United States of America is introduced with a title card that says ‘RAAF Trainees in Canada’. It then shows Sir Robert talking to the trainees at an airbase. Aeroplanes are shown parked in a row on the tarmac and a plane lands while another takes off. It then ends with Sir Robert talking with various military personnel.
Curator’s notes
This clip records the first ever visit to Canada by an Australian prime minister. Sir Robert Menzies visited Canada in 1941 to show support for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, the major platform of Canada’s early war effort. Under this program about 9,400 Australian airmen trained in Canada and we see Sir Robert talking to some of them in this clip.
The editing is most probably in-camera edits. It is silent, and other than an initial introductory title card there are no intertitles used.
