During WWII there was masses of film work done at UK air bases, recording events. Not just for the newsreels at the time but also for records purposes….

For example most bomber bases would have had a visit from an official film crew at some point during the war.

Does anyone know if it was archived, if it still exists? I ask because we always just seem to see the same footage on T/V & video, and that is often short snippets of edited material.

Hi Paul,
I’m no expert, but I’ve come across a fair amount on the periphery of my still photography interests. I’m not sure about ‘masses’. In most cases you can track film sources, along with still photography to one or two occasions, where multiple organisations got their material on one press day of heavily PR managed ‘event’. For instance most known UK RAF Boston or ASR Walrus /Lysander footage (and many stills) was clearly shot at the same time.

Not sure what you mean by ‘also for record purposes’; certainly there was masses of technical filming undertaken, but repetitive shots of widgets would be dull, and most of it has been destroyed, I’d assume. If you mean the Crown Film Unit and items such as safety videos, the former is covered by the various sources given, the latter has been discussed here and on WIX, IIRC.

The reason for the extreme blandness and repetition of the same old shots on TV and video isn’t to do with what’s (relatively easily) obtainable, but to do with the stunning costs often levied by the film licensees, coupled with non-commercial and frankly civil-servant non-turn-around speeds; so the film units fall back on what they’ve already got, rather than waiting too long and paying to much for more original, accurate but non cost-effective ‘new’ material. Hence the perennial survival of that blasted ‘Spitfire-gun-patch-firing’ shot.

In addition to the sources suggested below, the Australian War Memorial has an extensive film archive, mostly available for viewing on VHS. It’s catalogues and searchable online, but you have to go to Canberra to view it or buy a copy ‘unseen’. Among what you’d expect are items like the Vickers Armstrong line up of 1936 (Wellesley and Wellington prototypes, Spitfire and Jockey fighters) a 1930s Fleet Air Arm instructional video, and the famous Sunderland landing at Angle Aerodrome.

http://www.awm.gov.au/database/collection.asp

HTH