IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM SOUND ARCHIVE

Description
The Sound Archive was established in 1972 as the national centre for audio recordings relating to twentieth century conflict involving Britain and the Commonwealth. It was a pioneer of oral history and these personal reminiscences dominate the collection, now over 83 million feet (33,200 hours) and growing at the rate of about 3.5 million feet per annum. Historic recordings include speeches recorded by British and international key figures since the 1930s, considerable wartime BBC material, examples of the German High Command’s communiques, ENSA and ORBS light entertainment from the 1940s, daily recordings of the Nuremberg war crimes trials, poetry readings, NATO briefings, relevant recent radio programmes and a very wide range of sound effects.
Website
http://collections.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.00g007
Keywords
London; History; Newsreels; Railways; World War II; Newsfilm; Oral History; Poetry; Propaganda; Military forces; Palestine; War damage; Aircraft; Royal Air Force; Amateur films; Commonwealth; World War I; Aviation; Germany; Social History; British military forces; Civil defence; Documentary film movement; European History; Genocide; German military forces; German newsreels; Holocaust; Home Front, World War II; Home Guard, World War II; Israel; Navies and naval operations; Royal Flying Corps; Royal Naval Air Service; Soviet newsreels; Training films; Yugoslavia
Access
Mon-Fri, 1000-1700.
Access for outsiders
Yes.
Facilities
Listening facilities for individuals or groups.
Charges
No charge for browsing the database or listening. All recordings are catalogued and are available for reference and research.
Copyright
Copyright mostly held by the Archive.

Moving Image, Audio and Related Documentation Holdings

Sound
2000: 83+ million feet of sound (33,200+ hours), and growing.

Catalogues

Computerised database
Entire collection.
Online catalogue
Due in the future.
Printed catalogue
Some parts of the collection.
Card catalogue
No.
Digitised catalogue
In progress, commenced 1998.

Main Contact

Name
Dr. Margaret Brooks
Job title
Keeper
Department
Sound Archive, Imperial War Museum
Telephone
020 7416 5360
Fax
020 7416 5379
Email
sound@iwm.org.uk
Address
Imperial War Museum
Lambeth Road
London
SE1 6HZ

Alternate Contact

Name
Rosemary Tudge, Officer Manager
Telephone
020 7416 5363
Fax
020 7416 5379
Email
sound@iwm.org.uk

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