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Clip description
Two children, Kay and Barry Roberts, play in the garden. The young boy (Barry), dressed in an army green helmet and holding a toy rifle, takes aim at a fake enemy off camera. The clip ends with him lying on his stomach on the grass, staking out the invisible enemy. His younger sister Kay parades her pretty pink parasol.
Curator’s notes
Children have always played war games and simulated battles, but it is interesting to remember that at the time this footage was taken, the Second World War was in full swing. Roberts filmed various military parades, the 1941 Anzac Day march in Adelaide, and an armed forces recruitment parade the previous year. His interest in Australia’s involvement in the war may have had an influence on his children’s choice of recreational activity if it didn’t directly dictate it.
