United Kingdom flags flutter over the Old War Office Building, on Whitehall, in London, United Kingdom (Old War Office Building, Whitehall, London SW1A 2EU, United Kingdom). Variations of the flag displayed include the British Naval White ensign and the British Red Ensign. Vehicles drive past on street. Building with flags of various nations on it. Vehicles drive in front of the building. Cars parked in front of a building.
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain of Britain sits pensively at his desk. Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine, walking together in London. King George VI stepping from a car and entering 10 Downing Street. Mobilization of British forces for war. British civilians marching casually wearing steel army helmets. A man volunteering for the Army. New recruits being issued uniforms. Others, in civilian clothes, learning to drill with rifles and then marching away from a village. Recruits in bayonet practice. Winston Churchill speaking about the tragedy brought upon Europe by Hitler (this Churchill speech was at St. James's Place, London, June 12, 1941, in an address to Allied delegates). Aerial views of the destruction of Poland by Luftwaffe aircraft of Germany. Civilian Polish victims of German bombardment. A boy and women mourning over the dead. A child being held near a bonfire to warm her. Children rescuing a few possessions from a destroyed home. Parents carrying children. Women and girls crying and in mourning for the loss of loved ones and destruction from war.
38th and 338th Fighter Squadron P-38H's taxi round perimeter track at Nuthampstead and take-off down main runway. Some of the planes take off in pairs and others singly. Among those seen are , Lt. Jerry Ayers' P-38H coded CG-Q and Lt. Stanley Richardson's P-38H coded CL-X. Views of 55th Fighter Group P-38H planes escorting 91st Bomb Group B-17Fs in European Theater of Operations. Flights of P-38 planes position themselves to protect B-17 formations. Crew officers (including Capt. Hancock of the 38th FS) observe the activities from ground. The P-38s return to land. One P-38 releases drop tank over the airfield before landing. (World War II period).
Charlie Chaplin celebrates his 77th birthday during the filming of 'A Countes from Hong Kong' in London. A Charlie Chaplin figure on a cake. Charlie Chaplin puts his hat on the figure. Hollywood actors including Sophia Loren and Tippi Hedren present. Photographers click pictures. Oona O'Neill arrives with her daughters Josephione and Victoria. Charlie Chaplin's family including Sydney Chaplin and the film's actors near the cake. He cuts the cake as they look on. Veteran movie maker, director John Huston offers his congratulations and speaks to Chaplin.
London is hit by incendiary bombs for the first time during the London Blitz. Nazi incendiary bombs fall, and fires break out at night. View from Saint Paul's Cathedral (St. Paul's Churchyard, London EC4M 8AD, United Kingdom) of buildings set on fire by incendiaries. Firemen spray water on the buildings. A central switch board handles fire reports and assigns equipment to various sectors. A woman talks over a telephone. A large map is displayed in front of the room. A woman moves pegs on a pegboard, assigning firefighting equipment to parts of London. The pegboard reads 'no. of appliances available'. (World War II period).
The work of London's fire guards during a German blitz incendiary bomb raid in Britain during World War II. Warehouses and factories on fire in Suffolk across the Thames. Firemen spray water on the buildings. Explosives which were kept in the buildings increased the intensity of the fire caused by the blitzkrieg.