Up from the Ranks

Soldiers All gives a panoramic view of the men of the British Commonwealth in training, featuring the operational training undergone by Canadian soldiers and airmen in Britain. Interesting shots of field maneuvres, of the daily activities of Canadian officials in Canada House, of Canadian bomber and fighter pilots on active service, and an amusing sequence at a camp concert party, give a realistic picture of Canadians overseas. The camera next shifts to the advanced training of officers at the Royal Military College, Kingston, and ends with the training of Australian and New Zealand airmen in Canada including their reactions to Canadian life.

In this short film, a letter from a soldier stationed in Britain during World War II is sent home to his parents in Canada. The content of the letter is illustrated with scenes of military life - training, assault courses and recreation along with combat scenes from the Dieppe and Bruneval raids.

Part of the Canada Carries On series, this short film portrays the First Division of the Canadian Active Service Force in Aldershot, England. Using an intimate letter home as a narrative device, this film reveals how the troops were received, what their living conditions were like, how they would get along with their English allies and how they spent their leisure time.

The NFB’s 1st Academy-Award winning film. It presents the strategy of the Battle of Britain, showing with penetrating clarity the relationships between the various forces made up the island's defenses. Here is the Royal Air Force in its epic battle with the Luftwaffe, the Navy in its stubborn fight against the raiders of sea and sky, the coastal defenses, the mechanized cavalry, the merchant seamen and behind them all, Britain's tough, unbending civilian army.

Made at the end of WWII, this documentary looks at Britain's post-war period. During a time of economic hardship, Prime Minister Winston Churchill is concerned about the future of his nation. Part of the World in Action series.

This wartime short examines the Royal Air Force Ferry Command, a ferry system created by the Allies to bridge the gap between the aircraft factory and the fighting front of World War II. As the film shows, former bush pilots and transport pilots risked their lives to keep the planes flowing in an endless stream across the Atlantic.

This short documentary is part of the Canada Carries On series. The secret winter maneuvers of the British Army's Lovat Scouts took place in the Canadian Rockies during the winters of 1944 and 1945. In combined operations with the Canadian Army, these elite mountain commandos tested themselves and their equipment in temperatures of -50^oF.

This wartime short is a musical recruiting film for the Canadian Women's Army Corp.

From the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, Mackenzie King tried to avoid conscription. Most English Canadians thought young men should be sent to fight, while most French Canadians vehemently disagreed. This same division had nearly torn the country apart during the First World War. King had to make a decision in the final year of the war. This docudrama combines archival footage with excerpts from The King Chronicles, a dramatic series written and directed by Donald Brittain.

Some scenes contain graphic language.

Exercise Musk-Ox Finishes Three-Month Arctic Trek: A fifty-man team completes its research expedition to the Arctic. War-born Seaweed Industry Assures Peacetime Prosperity: In Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Irish moss is harvested and processed for use in the manufacture of a variety of products. Canada's Flying Wing Passes Flight Tests: Tests on the flying wing--an aircraft without motor or tail--are conducted in Ottawa by the National Research Council. Unique Design for Living Solves Housing Shortage: Veterans who are University of Saskatchewan students, and their families, live in barracks that have been converted into community apartments.

This newsreel includes the following sequences: 1. Black Watch Easter Service 2. Medical Inspection 3. Army Soccer Finals 4. Baseball Season Opens 5. The King's Farm 6. Tunnellers Receive Gibraltar Keys 7. Khaki Close-ups 8. Man of Vimy