What's Going On 'Ere, Then?

Some guys get dressed up in Gilbert and Sullivan uniforms. Others get their comedy Dad's Army gear on. And the Sheriff Clerk reads out extracts from the Beano. What is going on? Yes, Grandad, you're quite right. It is 3rd September 1939 and it is the declaration of war with Germany being formally read to the lieges, from somehere or other in London. There's a certain etiquette in these things, don't you know?

(image taken from "The Last Day of the Old World" by Adrian Ball - published 1963 by Frederick Muller Ltd)