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'Country Town', 1943

Video 'Country Town', 1943

TLF ID M011960

This is a film about life, work and leisure in an English country town in 1943 and the changes brought about by World War II. Narrated by an actor in the role of the town's newspaper editor, the film discusses how food control and rationing have changed the markets and developed people's sense of interdependence; describes the town's industries in wartime and the roles taken on by women and city people; identifies its rising and changing population; and shows its leisure activities. The film is in black-and-white and runs for 15 mins 19 secs. Background information about the film is also included.

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Educational details

Educational value
  • This is a valuable primary source for the World War II depth study in the year 10 history curriculum. It is particularly relevant for the content description about the impact of World War II, including the changing roles of women and use of wartime government controls. The film shows how the production, marketing, distribution and rationing of food in England was closely controlled by the Ministry of Food and how women worked in the town's canning factory, on the railways and in the fields.
  • The film gives some insight into the way film was used in England to boost morale and encourage people to make the best of the changes brought about by the war. The carefully crafted script identifies the good in people eating communal meals, developing a national rather than local view and in having people from the cities come to live or work in the country. The visuals and background music emphasise peace and tranquillity. All aspects of the film follow the rules for the entertainment media made by the Ministry of Information.
  • The resource may make some contribution to students attaining the year 10 history achievement standard. It provides a multimedia source from World War II that may help students refer to the actions of individuals and groups, explain patterns of change and continuity over time, and analyse the causes and effects of events and developments.
Year level

10

Topics Communities Recreation Rural areas Towns World War II
Learning area
  • History

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: British Council
  • Organization: British Council
  • Address: UNITED KINGDOM
  • URL: http://film.britishcouncil.org/
  • Publisher
  • Name: British Council
  • Organization: British Council
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: UNITED KINGDOM
  • URL: http://film.britishcouncil.org/
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Unknown
Learning Resource Type
  • Video
Rights
  • © British Council, except where indicated otherwise. This material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC 3.0) licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/.