Civil Defence parades in pre-war Croydon

Peacetime frivolity contrasts sharply with a sense of the Gathering Storm in this film from Croydon made shortly before the outbreak of hostilities.

This film reveals some stark contrasts in late 1930s Britain. First we see well-to-do ladies enacting various scenes, in costume, from their recent amateur productions. Then we get a sense of impending crisis with a Civil Defence parade on Croydon’s Katherine Street. Here we see Red Cross nurses march with Scots Guards followed by ambulances and a lorry load of telephonists in a mock Control Room. A Civil Defence poster display is also seen outside Croydon Town Hall.