London during the Second World War

• London during the Second World War

  London during the Second World War

  A view of Trafalgar Square in London, a short walk from Churchill War Rooms, showing propaganda hoardings on Nelson's Column in 1939.

• London during the Second World War

  London during the Second World War

  A Heinkel He 111 bomber flying over London, 1940. Since the First World War the government had feared that London would be the target of aerial bombardment. In 1938 the basement of a Whitehall building was chosen as the site for the Cabinet War Rooms.

• London during the Second World War

  London during the Second World War

  The Prime Minister Winston Churchill visiting bombed-out buildings in the East End of London on 8 September 1940.

• London during the Second World War

  London during the Second World War

  At a meeting at the War Cabinet Room in Oct 1940, after a bomb caused damage to 10 Downing St, Churchill was persuaded to meet in the Cabinet War Rooms regularly. This image shows damage at 10 Downing St after a bomb had fallen nearby, 20 Feb 1944.

• London during the Second World War

  London during the Second World War

  Lance Bombardier Sydney May and a colleague chat to Miss Doreen Peel during a boat trip along the River Thames in 1942. They are heading towards Waterloo Bridge, with the Houses of Parliament behind them.

• London during the Second World War

  London during the Second World War

  A number 3 double-decker bus slowly pushes its way through the huge crowds gathered in Whitehall to hear Churchill's Victory speech and celebrate Victory in Europe Day on 8 May 1945.