The COI Collection Volume Three: They Stand Ready

The third volume in the COI Collection, They Stand Ready, looks at Britain’s armed forces. To help paint a positive picture of life in the Services the COI produced morale-boosting documentaries, propaganda items and numerous recruitment films, which placed emphasis on escaping the humdrum of daily life. Join the Services, we are told, and a world of opportunity awaits you.

Highlights include: Victory Parade (1946), in which troops from all over the British Empire arrive in London to celebrate victory over the Nazis; They Stand Ready (1955), a look at the vital role of national service; Suez in Perspective (1957), where the Suez Crisis is given a positive spin; Routine Adventure (1965), about the RAF’s role in Aden; When You Wake Up (1974), a recruitment film for schoolgirls which attempts to lure them into the Women’s Royal Army Corp (WRAC); HMS Sheffield (1976) and Tornado (1985), big boys’ toys on the high seas and in the skies.

Disc one

• Victory Parade (1946)
• Men of the World (1950)
• Eagles of the Fleet (1950)
• Out of the Groove (1950)
• They Stand Ready (1955)
• Suez in Perspective (1957)
• Musicians in the Making (1958)
• Military Policeman (1961)
• Ten Foot Tall (1964)
• Winged Horizons (1965)
• Egypt Today: The Anglo-French Aggression Against Egypt (1956)

Disc two

• Voyage North (1965)
• Routine Adventure (1965)
• Army Summer of 1968 (1968)
• Exercise Enterprise (1968)
• Best of Both Worlds (1971)
• Community Relations Officer (1974)
• When You Wake Up (1974)
• Ark Royal (c1970)
• HMS Sheffield (1975)
• Tornado Trailer (1985)
• Royal Navy Amazon (c1980)
• Tornado (1985)

• Egypt Today: Anglo-French Aggression Against Egypt (1956, 11 minutes): a very different story is told in this Egyptian response to British Suez propaganda.
• Fully illustrated booklet including comprehensive contextualising notes and essays.