Now, through a donation to the University of Newcastle, Australians can see the unbridled elation of August 15, 1945, with their own eyes, in stunningly rare 16mm colour film.

Hunter historian Greg Ray thought it was too good to be true when Vera Findlay of Greta said she had found video footage of Newcastle's celebration of World War II's end, among her late husband's possessions.

While the film's origin remains a mystery, there's no denying what a special find it is.

"When I saw it I just thought, 'this is a miracle'," Mr Ray said.

"A lot of the things we'd written about we can see here now taking place in this film.

"There had never been a crowd like that and there never has been again.

"The description at the time was that no one had ever seen crowds like this in Newcastle, but the euphoria was all because this long war, from 1939 to 1945, had finally finished.

"The sense of relief was incredibly palpable.

"To see it surface in colour ... it was the most unexpected treasure that you could possibly imagine.

"I've donated it to the University of Newcastle because I think it's a Novocastrian treasure and I think it belongs in the public domain."

University of Newcastle associate professor Dr Heather Sharp said the donation was a "treasure".

"It's really showcasing Newcastle to itself, to the state and to Australia about how we were," she said.

"It was truly amazing to see so many people in Hunter Street and to see how Australian reacted spontaneously."

University of Newcastle archivist Gionni Di Gravio said he had never seen anything like it.

"We're so proud that we can restore this back into the community," he said.

"Hopefully when we promote it people will recognise people in the footage.

"Above all, we'd love to track down [the person] who filmed it.

"It's part of Australian cultural history and also I think it's very important for people to remember what it's like to bring a war to an end, to be free of it - this was the joy that was represented."

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