London Wwii Victory Day Parade June 8 (1946)

Synopsis

Made by the obscure Victor Espee Film Production company, this wonderful color film shows the London Victory Celebrations of 1946, also known as the Great "V' Day Parade. These were British Commonwealth, Empire and Allied victory celebrations held after the defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan in World War II. Attended by Queen Elizabeth and members of the royal family, the celebrations took place in London on 8 June 1946, and consisted mainly of a military parade through the city and a night time fireworks display. Most British allies took part in the parade, including Belgium, Brazil, China, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Luxembourg the Netherlands and the United States.The parade arrangements caused a controversy surrounding the lack of representation of Polish forces. The first part of the parade was the Chiefs of Staff's procession, featuring the British Chiefs of Staff together with the Supreme Allied Commanders. This was followed by a mechanized column which went from Regent's Park to Tower Hill to The Mall (where the saluting base was) and then back to Regent's Park. It was more than four miles long and contained more than 500 vehicles from the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, British civilian services and the British Army (in that order). Next came a marching column, which went from Marble Arch to The Mall to Hyde Park Corner.This was headed by the flags of the Allied nations which took part in the parade, each with an honor guard. Next came units of the navies, air…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

15 minutes

Language

English

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage