Titles tagged with ‘Second World War’
90 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 next
1930s
Along the Road to Gundagai music – 1931
This is a famous recording of one of Australia’s most popular songs.
Cockatoo Island: Newsreel Film of Dockyard Activities historical – c1939
The largest island in Sydney Harbour became the major shipbuilding and dockyard facility for the Pacific during the Second World War, following the fall of Singapore.
Give a Little Credit to your Dad; Lonesome for You, Mother Dear music – 1939
Two songs by then unknown country singer Buddy Williams, recorded in 1939.
Menzies Speech: Declaration of War radio – 1939
The announcement by Prime Minister Menzies in 1939 that because Great Britain has declared war upon Germany, Australia is also at war.
1940s
Browning Machine Gun sponsored film – c1940
An animated army training film that illustrates the operation of the Browning machine gun.
Dad Rudd, MP feature film – 1940
Dad Rudd, MP truly signals the end of an era, the last gasp of the cycle of rural comedies featuring yokels and livestock that went back 30 years in Australian cinema.
Dyer, Frederick Simpson: Milkshakes and Bomb Shelter home movie – c1940
This footage offers a beautiful glimpse of suburban Australia during the Second World War through the everyday recreational activities of the Dyer family.
Kraft Cheddar Cheese Cinema Advertisement: Unexpected Guests advertisement – c1940
This snack was marketed by Kraft as a quick and easy-to-prepare snack, and importantly an economical one.
Curtin Speech: Japan Enters Second World War radio – 1941
In a broadcast to the nation, Prime Minister John Curtin announces that Australia is now at war with Japan.
From England to the USA: Menzies Wartime Tour home movie – c1941
Part travelogue and part historical record, this home movie captures official visits as well as the prime minister’s own travel.
Menzies’ Wartime Tour – England home movie – 1941
Sir Robert Menzies captures the atmosphere of London during The Blitz in 1941, recording the raid as it happened and then filming its immediate aftermath.
Poisoned Daggers sponsored film – c1941
The evocative title lends a sense of drama to the message being conveyed: that the mosquito’s bite is a threat not just to the health of the community, but also the war effort.
Red Cross Cinema Advertisement: The Prisoner of War Street Adoption Scheme advertisement – c1941
The appeal offers something practical that people can do – pay one pound a week to sponsor a prisoner of war.
Road to Tokyo advertisement – c1941
An animated government advertisement designed to persuade Australians to contribute to the war effort by investing in war loans.
Third Liberty Loan: This Is Vital to You advertisement – 1941
This cinema advertisement uses text to present a direct appeal from the Federal Treasurer, JB Chifley.
While There is Still Time documentary – 1941
The Chauvels aimed to encourage Australians at home to work to help their loved ones fighting overseas. Future Oscar winner Peter Finch has a small but pivotal role.
Australia Post – Post Office Film sponsored film – 1942
This is a mute, black-and-white film record of the dismantling of the Sydney GPO clock tower to relocate communications equipment during the Second World War.
Kokoda Front Line! newsreel – 1942
This iconic and Academy Award-winning newsreel shot by Damien Parer contains some of the most recognised images of Australian troops in the Second World War.
Power to Win documentary – 1942
Having been determined medically unfit for the army, Charles Chauvel saw his film work as a contribution to the war effort.
Road to Kokoda newsreel – 1942
What’s remarkable about Damien Parer’s Kokoda footage is that there is no actual combat, and the Japanese presence is felt most keenly through its absence.
Soldiers Without Uniform documentary – 1942
This propaganda film made by Charles Chauvel aims to boost worker morale by recognising their contributions to the war effort.
Australians Keep the Wheels of Industry Turning advertisement – c1943
An animated advertisement to persuade Australians to invest in National Savings stamps and the 4th Liberty Loan.
Couch: Our Women of the VAD home movie – 1943
This amateur production provides an almost behind-the-scenes view of the women as they went through their VAD training.
Dame Enid Lyons: Maiden Speech radio – 1943
Enid Lyons, the first woman elected to the House of Representatives in Australia’s federal parliament, reads her maiden speech for radio broadcast.
Fourth Liberty Loan advertisement – 1943
A Fourth Liberty Loan campaign was launched to encourage people to buy national savings stamps to contribute to the war effort.
Give Us This Day advertisement – 1943
This food rationing advertisement takes its title from a phrase in the Lord’s Prayer ‘give us this day our daily bread’.
A Mountain Goes to Sea documentary – 1943
Made during the Second World War, A Mountain Goes to Sea was intended as a morale booster for workers building the machinery of war.
Norforce Army Days at Hayes Creek, NT and Wyndham home movie – 1943
This footage was filmed by John Mack, a South Australian photographer and cinematographer who served as staff sergeant during the Second World War.
South-west Pacific sponsored film – 1943
During the Second World War, Chips Rafferty appeared in two short documentaries made for the federal government to support the domestic war effort.
Jungle Patrol newsreel – 1944
The story of eight Australian soldiers fighting the Japanese on Shaggy Ridge in New Guinea, in 1943.
The Rats of Tobruk feature film – 1944
The Rats of Tobruk may not be Charles Chauvel’s best movie, but it deserves serious consideration as his best movie about war.
Senator Dorothy Tangney: Maiden Speech radio – 1944
A recording of the first woman elected to the Australian Senate reading her maiden speech.
Christmas Crackers home movie – 1945
This amateur film from 1945 shows the joy of a family reuniting at the end of the Second World War after the men return from overseas service.
First Victory Home Loan: Squander Bug advertisement – 1945
This ad aimed to persuade Australians to donate money to the war effort, portraying it as patriotic and a show of commitment to the cause.
Movietone Special: Peace: Australia Celebrates newsreel – 1945
This Movietone News special edition newsreel marking the nationwide celebrations at the end of the Second World War includes the iconic image of the 'dancing man’.
Visit of Deputy PM Forde to UN Conference home movie – 1945
Four days after arriving home from the conference, Prime Minister John Curtin died and Forde was sworn in for a brief term as prime minister.
ALP Cinema Advertisement: In the Wake of the Storm advertisement – 1946
This cinema ad for the 1946 federal election encourages Australians to stay with the Labor Party, which has successfully led the country through the end of the Second World War.
Liberal Party Cinema Advertisement: The Golden Age advertisement – 1946
This Liberal Party cinema advertisement for the 1946 federal election proposes that life for ordinary people under the incumbent Labor government is by no means as good as it should be.
The Overlanders feature film – 1946
As the Japanese threaten northern Australia in 1942, a drover takes a mob of prime beef cattle across 2,600 kms of hazardous country to Queensland.
Land Short of People documentary – 1947
A narrative of white settlement pioneering against the odds – the tyranny of distance, the harsh conditions, and the massive landscapes.
Searchlight on Japan documentary – c1948
Made by Ken G Hall, Searchlight on Japan focuses on Japan under Allied occupation at the end of the Second World War.
1950s
Division of Radiophysics documentary – 1950
This public relations documentary outlines research undertaken by the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics during the 1940s.
Hewers of Coal sponsored film – 1957
This union-sponsored documentary dramatises the history of mining in Australia since the early 1900s, including the friction between miners and mine owners.
1960s
The Legend of Damien Parer television program – 1964
The life of the legendary Australian combat cameraman Damien Parer, through the eyes of those who knew him and through footage shot before his death in action in 1944.
Menzies in Profile documentary – 1964
A tribute celebrating the life of Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia and founder of the Australian Liberal Party.
1970s
The Sullivans – On the Brink of War television program – 1976
The first four episodes of the long-running hit series cover the period leading up to the declaration of the Second World War in Australia on 3 September 1939.
Letters From Poland short film – 1978
While the plight of migrant women was a pillar issue for 1970s and 1980s Australian feminism, this film’s approach to the issue is very much focused on the individual.
1980s
Lucinda Brayford television program – 1980
Wendy Hughes, Sam Neill, Carol Burns and Barry Quin feature in the saga of an Australian heiress who marries into British aristocracy.
Rusty Bugles television program – 1980
Based on a banned 1948 stage play, this telemovie follows a group of soldiers posted to a remote base in the Northern Territory during the Second World War.
A Town Like Alice television program – 1980
This mini-series, based on the novel by Nevil Shute, tells an epic love story that begins in Malaya during the Japanese occupation of 1941–45.
