Clip description
This home movie filmed by the Australian Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, in 1941 shows Hyde Park, filled with rubble from the Blitz, then cuts to some close-ups of British Home Secretary, Lloyd George.
Curator’s notes
This clip includes two contrasting scenarios. The first shows Hyde Park, London, buried under piles of rubble – dumped there in efforts to clear the streets of London after the destruction of the Blitz.
What follows is Lloyd George posing portrait-style for the camera. He is in a garden – possibly Churchill’s – and his grey hair is blowing wildly in the wind. He is then joined by Menzies, both evidently posing for the camera.
Sir Robert has used intertitles to introduce his subjects and these give a valuable accuracy to these films as historical records.