The Second World War in Colour

It is a rare and exciting moment when the potential for new insight into a well-trodden area of history suddenly presents itself. As a director of historical documentaries, I savoured such a moment when my colleague, Adrian Wood, one of the most respected film researchers, came into my office one day and said, ‘What would you say if I told you that I know where there are 400 hours of colour film of the Second World War?’

Most people who make television documentaries with some reference to the Second World War know there is some colour film around, but 400 hours is amazing! Adrian was alerted to the existence of unseen quantities of colour film of the Second World War when he came across a paper reference to some reels of film, shot in colour, of the Long Range Desert Group (David Stirling’s precursor of the SAS) in training in North Africa in 1942. He never found them, but his searches unearthed several other colour reels.