Online Film Archive Provides Fascinating Look At Life In Wartime Britain

Interest in the films appears to have caused the British Council's website to crash.

An online archive of films showing life in Britain in the 1930s and 1940s has been completed.

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The British Council said the final 25 clips have now been uploaded to its website.

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Among the films are documentaries entitled War Comes to London and These Children Are Safe.

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The council began uploading the documentaries in 2012 with the aim of providing a snapshot of Britain in a very particular point in time.

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During the 1940s, the council was asked to showcase Britain and “British-ness” to the rest of the world.

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Commenting on the archive, British Council film director Briony Hanson said: "These films give us one last glimpse into a Britain that's different and familiar in equal measure."

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"Some things like air raid shelters in London's parks and a Sheffield dominated by the steel industry are things of the past – but there are also trips to the pub, police dramas and, of course, a lot of tea."

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"The British Council Film Collection completely took us all by surprise when we launched the first tranche of titles online with vast audiences loving what they saw."

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On Thursday morning, the British Council's website appeared to have crashed, perhaps as a result of the number of people trying to access the films.

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Among the clips uploaded to the archive are a series of educational films.

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The life of the rabbit is documented.

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And the newt.

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And the history of the onion.

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The British Council has launched a competition called "View From Here" which is encouraging people to re-edit films within the archive or produce new versions on similar themes.