Six Nations

England’s 1924 Grand Slam: http://www.britishpathe.com/workspaces/BritishPathe/JNsd2Jvq 

This image shows the game between England and Scotland.

Six Nations

On Saturday, England will play Wales in a deciding game. England’s 1924 Grand Slam can be viewed here. In the still, the King meets with the team.

A U-boat is driven ashore by gales during the First World War. Hastings, England. Click here to view the newsreel.

Watch England v Brazil, 1963

Watch England v Brazil, 1956

As we mentioned in late November, we’re now doing a regular blog post pointing out events or anniversaries coming up that the archive holds some relevant footage for. So here are our picks over the Christmas period…

Queen Opens New London Airport Terminal

(16 December)

In 1955, British Pathé covered the Queen and Prince Philip arriving at London Airport to open new buildings. Watch the newsreel by clicking here.

Elvis Drafted into the Army

(20 December)

55 years ago, the “King”was drafted into the United States Army. British Pathé has footage of Elvis Presley as he began his tour of duty, as well as a newsreel announcing that he had left the army a few years later. Watch them here.

50^th Anniversary of Polaris

(21 December)

In 1962, the United States sold Britain Polaris. British Pathé has footage of Polaris missiles and the demonstrations against them in this collection.

Don Bradman Beats Bodyline

(2 January)

80th Anniversary: Australia wins the second Test match against England in this 1933 film. Additional footage of Don Bradman can be found here.

Visit www.britishpathe.com for more films.

Earlier in November we blogged about four upcoming anniversaries which may have been of interest (see here). From now on, we’ll be doing this on a regular basis, pointing out events coming up in the calendar that we have some relevant footage for. So here’s our picks for the next two weeks…

England Win Cricket Test v Australia (2 December)

80^th Anniversary: In 1932 England went to Australia to compete in cricket Test matches which would be known as the “Bodyline Tour”. 2^nd December marks the opening day of the first Test, which England won. Watch the match here.

It has also been announced that a statue of Basil D’Oliveira will be erected at Worcestershire County Cricket Club. See some footage of D’Oliveira in the archive.

Bombing of Naples (4 December)

70^th Anniversary: Days after Winston Churchill announced that Italy would continue to be bombed until they surrendered, the United States Air Force launched its first air raid on Naples. British Pathé has footage of USAF attacks on Naples, released in cinemas in January of 1943, as well as footage of the RAF missions. See the collection here.

The Great London Smog  (5 December)

60^th Anniversary: The Great London Smog of 1952. British Pathé holds some excellent footage from back when London was plagued with smog throughout the 1950s. Click here to see the clips.

Irish Free State  (6 December)

90^th Anniversary: The Irish Free State was established under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Click here to see British Pathé’s footage of the Irish Free State in 1922.

Visit www.britishpathe.com for more films.

tumblr exclusive

British Pathé’s archive of football coverage is extensive. Some of our most popular footage is of FA Cup Finals, and our collection of them can be found here. Have a search of the website for more.

We’ve been wading through the wealth of material for some classic goals in the wake of a certain footballer’s terrific performance versus England on 15th November 2012.

Here, we present just a few of them…

Geoff Hurst, World Cup Final, 1966

Sir Geoffrey Hurst is the first (and only!) player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final. Those famous three goals came in 1966 when England battled West Germany for the heavily-sort-for title of World Cup Champion. The British Pathé cameras captured that tremendous occasion.

You can watch the contemporary newsreel coverage – in colour – of the 1966 World Cup on our website. Click here to view the film.

Bobby Charlton, England v Mexico, 1966

Sir Bobby Charlton scored 49 goals for England during his amazing career in football. One of his best, though, is undoubtedly the one he made in 1966 – the World Cup year – when he played against Mexico. Click here to view the film.

Cardiff v Barnsley, 1957

We’re not quite sure who scored this goal towards the end of this newsreel (let us know!), but it’s a belter. Click here to view the film.

Helmut Rahn, West Germany v Hungary, 1954

The late Helmut Rahn of Germany scored the winning goal in the 1954 World Cup final. He was playing for West Germany against Hungary. Click here to view the film.

Ferenc Puskas, England v Hungary, 1953

The year before, it was the Hungary team which was scoring with exceptional skill. Ferenc Puskas, that legendary player and coach, was playing against England when he scored this terrific goal. Click here to view the film.

Pele, Brazil v Sweden, 1958

Brazilian footballer Edison Arantes do Nascimento (or “Pele”) performed so well at the 1958 World Cup final v Sweden that he earned a Day That Shook The World episode about him in the BBC/British Pathé series. A high honour indeed! Click here to view the episode.

And, of course, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who’s had many espousing his goal as the greatest of all time.

What do you think?