Air Raid Shelter Collection

Those who went to shelters began a new kind of night-life, 11th November, 1940, 1942. London residents taking shelter in Elephant and Castle tube station during the World War II

The construction of an Air Raid Precautions shelter beneath a war memorial in Swanley, Kent. 1939

Air raid shelter at West Ealing Goods Yard, 1940
A rather intriguing photo here of West Ealing Goods Yard, taken in 1940

Scammel being loaded with Anderson Air Raid Shelter, West London, 1939
Westbourne Park Yard in April 1939 is the focus of this interesting pre-war image

St Johns Bablake, 1941 a42_00321
St John the Baptists Church, Fleet Street, Bablake, Coventry. St John the Baptists Church viewed from the south east showing windows boarded as a result of bomb damage

Römische Oper
Wegweiser im Opernhaus in Rom; Italien 1940er Jahre. Directory in the opera in Rome; Italy 1940s

Weltmeisterin Kapell
Die Weltmeisterin Anni Kapell bei ihrer Arbeit als Luftschutzwart, Deutsches Reich 1941. World champion Anni Kapell at her place of work as an Air Raid Warden, Germany 1941

Weltmeisterin Kapell
Die Weltmeisterin Anni Kapell bei ihrer Arbeit als Luftschutzwart, Deutsches Reich 1941. World champion Anni Kapell at her place of work as an Air Raid Warden, Germany 1941

Weltmeisterin Kapell
Die Weltmeisterin Anni Kapell bei ihrer Arbeit als Luftschutzwart, Deutsches Reich 1941. World champion Anni Kapell at her place of work as an Air Raid Warden, Germany 1941

Weltmeisterin Kapell
Die Weltmeisterin Anni Kapell bei ihrer Arbeit als Luftschutzwart, Deutsches Reich 1941. World champion Anni Kapell at her place of work as an Air Raid Warden, Germany 1941

Weltmeisterin Kapell
Die Weltmeisterin Anni Kapell bei ihrer Arbeit als Luftschutzwart, Deutsches Reich 1941. World champion Anni Kapell at her place of work as an Air Raid Warden, Germany 1941

Weltmeisterin Kapell
Die Weltmeisterin Anni Kapell bei ihrer Arbeit als Luftschutzwart, Deutsches Reich 1941. World champion Anni Kapell at her place of work as an Air Raid Warden, Germany 1941

Weltmeisterin Kapell
Die Weltmeisterin Anni Kapell bei ihrer Arbeit als Luftschutzwart, Deutsches Reich 1941. World champion Anni Kapell at her place of work as an Air Raid Warden, Germany 1941

Weltmeisterin Kapell
Die Weltmeisterin Anni Kapell bei ihrer Arbeit als Luftschutzwart, Deutsches Reich 1941. World champion Anni Kapell at her place of work as an Air Raid Warden, Germany 1941

Queen Wilhelmina in the Bomb-Proof Shelter
(Original Caption) Netherlands Queen Visits Bomb-Proof Shelter

Londoners Sleeping in Tube Station
(Original Caption) London, England: Weary London are shown catching up on sleep in the comparative safety of a tube station, taken out of service and converted into an air raid shelter

London Tube Station Doubling as Bomb Shelter
Residents of London sleep on the platform and tracks at a subway station. The tunnel was converted to an air raid shelter after German attacks on the city

New Yorkers Entering Air Raid Shelter
A group of Lower Eastside residents enter their apartment building's air raid shelter in New York City for a drill in 1942

Air Raid Drill in Rockefeller Center
Occupants of the Eastern Airlines Building in Rockefeller Center make their way to the basement shelter during an air raid drill

People Looking Up From Subway Entrance
(Original Caption) 11/28/51-New York: Air Raid Drill. Financial District. People looking up from subway entrance at Wall St. and Broadway, while sirens blow

Saved by shelters A bomb fell between these two shelters in Smallheath, Birmingham, nobody was hurt following a raid on the city. Here is a Midland A.R.P

An ARP shelter in a haystack. 23rd October 1939

Construction of air raid shelters in Birkenhead Park. 24th September 1938

Air Raid Shelter signs seen here in Derby. Circa October 1939

A peep inside the dug-out air raid shelter at Borrowash 15th October 1939

ARP personnel and rescue workers did through the rubble of Sculcoates Lane, Hull looking for survivors following the raid on the city 7th - 8th May 1941

Work in progress on one of the air raid shelters which is being constructed by the Newcastle authorities for the residents of Noble Street

The cellar at Idols / The Lazy Pig in Whitley Bay which contained a record of air raids during the Second World War. 28/04/1995

A family inside their air-raid shelter during WW2, with the mother cradling her new born baby

German Bomb-proof shelter, 5 yards deep, between c1915 and 1916. A German bomb-proof shelter during World War I

New bunks fitted in a public air raid shelter to make sheltering from enemy air raids slightly more comfortable. 4th October 1940

Mr. Walter Higgs. M. P. tries out one of the new bunks in a public air raid shelter while
Mr. Walter Higgs. M.P. tries out one of the new bunks in a public air raid shelter while chatting to the Lord Mayor of Birmingham. 4th October 1940

A pile of rubble surrounds an Anderson shelter in the back garden of terrace housing off Farm Street, Hockley, Birmingham following an air raid on the city. 30th July 1942

Leading Aircraftman Horace Perks, his wife, nine year old daughter and Mrs Morrin of Highgate Road, Balsall Heath

Members of the Perks and Morrin families of Highgate Road, Balsall Heath

Children search a crater for shrapnel following near miss to a public shelter in Aston. 17th May 1941

Workmen inspect the remains of a Anderson shelter that was blown over the rooftops into this Aston street. 17th May1941

Animals ARP. A gas proof kennel on displayed by the animal charity P. D. S. A
Animals ARP. A gas proof kennel on displayed by the animal charity P.D.S.A. at an unknown location during the build up to the Second World War. Circa 1939

Shelters for Schools. Parents watch the construction of one of the air raid shelters
Shelters for Schools

Saved by Shelter. Eight residents from Slade Road, Erdington, Birmingham, were in this Anderson shelter when an oil bombEfell at the door during a raid on the city. Two menEwere slightly injured

The canal arms which were filled in when Easy Row wharf, Birmingham was converted into a car park seen here being excavated to build a 1, 500 person air raid shelter. 11th September 1939

Shortly after the radio broadcast by the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, declaring war on Germany, air raid sirens sounded over London

Air raid shelter trenches being dug in the grounds of Monks Abbey, Monks Road, Lincoln, in preparation for the possible out break of war. 28 September 1938

Air raid shelter trenches being dug on West Common, Lincoln, in preparation for the possible out break of war. 28 September 1938

Qualcast Ltd, A. R. P. test at works in Victory Road, Derby 15th October 1939
Qualcast Ltd, A.R.P. test at works in Victory Road, Derby 15th October 1939

Air raid wardens at one of their posts during the A. R. P. exercises in Derby
Air raid wardens at one of their posts during the A.R.P. exercises in Derby. 15th May 1939

Home Office steel A. R. P. Shelters tested at Shotton. Scenes in the works of Messrs. J
Home Office steel A.R.P. Shelters tested at Shotton. Scenes in the works of Messrs. J. Summers and Sons, Ltd. where thousands of the shelters are being made

Excavations for air raid shelters at Parkfields Cedars School, Derby. 15th November 1939

Cellars of serval firms in Derby are being rapidly adapted as public air raid shelters. Here is a view of the old wine vaults of Messrs. Alton and Co. Ltd

Custom House, Liverpool after is had been swept by a fire during a raid. 1st September 1940

ARP personnel, Air raid warden help to search for survivors in an East Hull street after a German raid on the city 9th May 1941

A surface air raid shelter that survived following a direct hit on the nearby house at an unknown location in Hull. Circa March 1941

Surface air raid shelters close to the remain of the bus station in Hull, which was completely destroyed over two nights in May 1942. 8th July 1942

The Second World War air raid shelter in College Green 1956 Bristol

Under the arches. Children of St Albans School, Liverpool, having their Christmas party in the air raid shelters in the North End. The shelters are railway arches and well fitted with bunks

A crowd of excited youngsters watched the delivery of the first consignment of A. R. P
A crowd of excited youngsters watched the delivery of the first consignment of A.R.P. Shelters, in the Two Ball Lonnen area, Newcastle. February 1939

Viewing the two Home Office steel shelters which are being made by John Summers and Sons of Shotton. Mr Geoffrey Summers and Mr J T Kirk, Home Office representative. 14th February 1939

Building one of the shelters at the childrens playground, Pownall Square, Pall Mall, Liverpool. 4th March 1939

Peter Roderick the baby born in an air raid shelter at the height of a German air raid on London seen here enjoying the country life, 24 May 1941

Peter Francis Roderick, of 14a, Broadway, Wembley Park, He will be three in Sept. Born while his mother lay on the floor of their Anderson shelter at Catford. Delivered by her mother at 1.55 am

A young lady emerges from an Anderson Shelter after an air raid and a heavy night of bombing. Circa: 1940

The air raid shelters in The Side, Newcastle, which were being demolished. Architect Bill Hopper is pictured prior to work commencing. 20/04/1998

Sandbags are placed for the protection of buildings in Newcastle in prepartion for air raids. 03/09/1939

On the day Britain declared war on Germany, following the invasion of Poland, people in the parks left their seats and walked to the A R P trenches as though they had all rehearsed it

A young lady emerges from an Anderson Shelter after an air raid and a heavy night of bombing. Circa: 1940

Thomasina Thomson, 83, with her son, Cliff and daughter, Sylvia Adams

The Best-Kept Gardens contest for the Condercum Estate, Newcastle. Tenants brought to light a new angle on gardening - how to make the A R P Anderson shelter a thing of beauty

Work is pushed ahead on the group of ARP air raid shelters at the Vickers-Armstrong Scotswood works in Newcastle. 16/04/1939

A crowd of excited youngsters watched the delivery of the first consignment of ARP air raid shelters in the Two Ball Lonnen area of Newcastle. 28/02/1939

A family wearing gas masks go into an Anderson air raid shelter. 04/09/1939

The surface street air raid shelters in Glouster Street near Scotswood Road, Newcastle. 11/09/1946

Sixteen women and children were inside the surface air raid shelter nearest the camera when a heavy bomb exploded in the road about three feet from the outer wall

The surface street air raid shelters stand intact following a German raid on the North East. Circa: 1940

Wartime preparations at the Dental Hospital in Newcastle when students took part in a very different kind of drill - filling sandbags in case of air raids. 31/08/1939

By 1941 many Newcastle firms, like this one on City Road, were adopting 24 hour fire-watching with use of roof spotters. 14/01/1941

Durham is prepared - work underway on an ARP scheme in Durham. 9th September 1939

Newcastles comprehensive scheme for protecting the public during air attacks is still being extended. This picture shows a concrete shelter being constructed at Saville Place

A surface air raid shelter in a backyard which was undamaged when a bomb wrecked a house during a Sunday night raid on the North East. Resident Mrs Jordan was killed in the house. 30/07/1940

Residents of Links Avenue, Monkseaton, who decided to construct their own communal air raid shelter shortly before the start of the Second World War

The air raid shelters in The Side, Newcastle, which were being demolished. 20/04/1998

Londoners use Aldwych Underground Station as an air raid shelter during bomb attacks on London during the Second World War. Circa 1941

A crowd of excited yougsters watch the delivery of the first consignment of A. R. P
A crowd of excited yougsters watch the delivery of the first consignment of A.R.P. air raid shelters in the Two Ball Lonnen area of Newcastle, February 1939

World War Two Checking door of an air raid shelter 1940 in George Square Glasgow Scotland

An Englishmans home... in an Anderson Shelter

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EDITORS COMMENTS

"Surviving the Blitz: A New Kind of Night-Life in Air Raid Shelters" On the 11th of November, 1940, as bombs rained down on cities across Britain during World War II, a new kind of night-life emerged. People sought refuge in air raid shelters, seeking solace and safety amidst chaos. In Swanley, beneath a war memorial stood an extraordinary testament to human resilience - an Air Raid Precautions shelter. Constructed with determination and hope, it provided sanctuary for those who feared for their lives. Meanwhile, at West Ealing Goods Yard in 1940, another air raid shelter was erected. It stood tall against the backdrop of destruction and uncertainty. Scammel trucks were loaded with Anderson Air Raid Shelters to be transported to various locations across West London – symbols of protection amidst turmoil. Amidst the rubble-filled streets of Sculcoates Lane, ARP personnel and brave rescue workers tirelessly searched for survivors after devastating bombings. Their unwavering dedication showcased humanity's strength even in the face of adversity. Elsewhere, work continued on constructing more shelters; each brick laid represented a glimmering beacon of hope for those seeking refuge from enemy attacks. St John Bablake witnessed this progress in 1941 as one such shelter took shape under its watchful eye. Across borders in Berlin lay a chilling reminder - an information plaque denoting the location where Hitler's infamous bunker once stood. A stark contrast between darkness and light; where evil once resided now stands as a symbol against tyranny. Even schoolboys found themselves adapting to these uncertain times. In 1941 artist Cecil Beaton captured their dormitory transformed into makeshift sleeping quarters within an air raid shelter – innocence intertwined with wartime realities. John Anderson himself played a pivotal role during these tumultuous years as he championed public safety measures by introducing new bunks into existing shelters. His vision aimed to provide comfort and security to those seeking shelter from the relentless enemy air raids.