Sandbags Collection

Blitz in London -- Whitechapel Fire Station
Whitechapel Fire Station in Whitechapel Road having suffered heavy blast damage following a bombing raid on 8 September 1940

Rifle Brigade in position, Western Front - WWI
The First Battalion of the British Rifle Brigade in position close to the German trenches under shell fire - WWI. Date: circa 1915

AFS despatch rider and messenger, WW2
An AFS (Auxiliary Fire Service) despatch rider and messenger on a motorbike at an LFS sub-station during the Second World War

LCC-LFB enclosed pump at Lambeth fire station
Pictured at Brigade Headquarters, Lambeth SE1, an example of an 1930 enclosed London pump with carried breathing apparatus

First line Gurkhas storming and capturing a German trench, World War I, 1914-1918. Artist: Crown
First line Gurkhas storming and capturing a German trench, World War I, 1914-1918. Stereoscopic card. Detail

WW2 - Laundry - It ll soon be hanging on the Siegfried Line
WW2 humour - " Two British soldiers doing their laundry comment that " It ll soon be hanging on the Siegfried Line!". Date: circa 1944

Air Raid patrol in London, WWII
Portrait study of a man on guard to warn the city of air attacks, with rattle in his hand to announce the use of gas - his handbell to sound the All Clear

Fire alam post, Cooks Road, Vauxhall, WW2
Fire alarm post (FA41) protected by sandbags outside the AFS station in Cooks Road, Vauxhall, with an LFB fire engine on the left, around the start of the Second World War

A German officer in a heavily sandbagged observation point during WWI, from The Pageant of the Century, pub.1934
3502708 A German officer in a heavily sandbagged observation point during WWI, from The Pageant of the Century, pub.1934; (add.info)

Sentry duty; The Colonel, inspecting his trenches during a night of high alert.. 1917. Creator: Unknown
Sentry duty; The Colonel, inspecting his trenches during a night of high alert. -- "Why aren't you at the first-aid post, getting treatment"

How to make a surprise attack; Before departure: men being despatched... 1917. Creator: Unknown
How to make a surprise attack; Before departure: men being despatched and, on the right, the lieutenant commanding them, 1917

Life in the trenches in Champagne; Calm: "le pinard", 1917. Creator: Unknown
Life in the trenches in Champagne; Calm: "le pinard", 1917. From "L'Album de la Guerre 1914-1919, Volume 2" [L'Illustration, Paris, 1924]

Life in the trenches in Champagne; A lookout teased by the enemy is passed hand grenades, 1917. Creator: Unknown
Life in the trenches in Champagne; A lookout teased by the enemy is passed hand grenades, 1917. From "L'Album de la Guerre 1914-1919, Volume 2" [L'Illustration, Paris, 1924]

Life in the trenches in Champagne; A torpedo explodes at some distance... 1917. Creator: Unknown
Life in the trenches in Champagne; A torpedo explodes at some distance, shaking the parapets, mowing down everything around with its splinters, 1917

Italian Offensive of Isonzo; The western slopes of Monte Santo... 1917. Creator: Unknown
Italian Offensive of Isonzo; The western slopes of Monte Santo, which the Bersaglieri had to climb, from August 19 to 24, 1917; at the top, the ruins of a convent, 1917

French Attack of July 31, 1917; Artillery preparation on the second German line... 1917. Creator: Unknown
French Attack of July 31, 1917; Artillery preparation on the second German line on the east bank of the Yser canal at Ypres; This view was taken from the west bank of the canal, 1917

Sur le massif de Moronvilliers; Sur le Teton: blockhaus en ciment armé, 1917. Creator: Unknown
Sur le massif de Moronvilliers; Sur le Teton: blockhaus en ciment arme, 1917. First World War: on the Moronvilliers Hills; on the breast of the hill, blockhouse in reinforced cement

Dans les forts reconquis de Douaumont et de Vaux; casement du fort de Vaux... 1916. Creator: Unknown
Dans les forts reconquis de Douaumont et de Vaux; casement du fort de Vaux donnant sur le fosse Sud, 1916. From "Collection de la Guerre IV. L'Illustration Tome CXLVIII

The "Maison Verte", Sebastopol - sketched by E. A. Goodall, 1856. Creator: Edward Alfred Goodall
The "Maison Verte", Sebastopol - sketched by E. A. Goodall, 1856. Scene from the Crimean War:..a favourite target for the long ranges

Armement Nouveau; Batterie de quatre engins dits "taupias", 1915. Creator: Unknown
'Armement Nouveau; Batterie de quatre engins dits "taupias", a la charge desquels un bombardier va mettre le feu sous la surveillance du capitaine de la campagnie, 1915

La bataille de la Somme; Pendules trouvees par nos soldats dans une cagna allemande de la... 1916. Creator: Unknown
La bataille de la Somme; Pendules trouvees par nos soldats dans une cagna allemande de la Somme. 1916. From "Collection de la Guerre IV. L'Illustration Tome CXLVII

L'effort Canadien; Canadiens occupant des tranchees en Flandre, 1915 (1916).. Creator: Unknown
L'effort Canadien; Canadiens occupant des tranchees en Flandre, 1915. From "Collection de la Guerre IV. L'Illustration Tome CXLVIII

Sandbag Battery defended by the Guards - sketched on the morning of the Battle of Inkerman, 1854. Creator: Unknown
Sandbag Battery defended by the Guards - sketched on the morning of the Battle of Inkerman, 1854. Crimean War:..two 18-pounders which had been mounted on Sandbag battery were taken away

American University Training Camp - Misc. Views, 1917. Creator: Harris & Ewing
American University Training Camp - Misc. Views, 1917

'La Tour des Templiers et le canal de Furnes a Nieuport. c1915. Creator: Unknown
La Tour des Templiers et le canal de Furnes a Nieuport, c1915. From "Collection de la Guerre IV. L'Illustration Tome CXLVII. La Guerre Janvier, Fevrier, Mars, Avril, Mai, Juin 1916"

Camp, 1917 or 1918. Creator: Harris & Ewing. Camp, 1917 or 1918. Creator: Harris & Ewing
Camp, 1917 or 1918

'Le Canal de l'Yser a Nieuport. 1916. Creator: Francois Flameng
Le Canal de l'Yser a Nieuport, 1916. From "Collection de la Guerre IV. L'Illustration Tome CXLVII. La Guerre Janvier, Fevrier, Mars, Avril, Mai, Juin 1916"

'Bonne tranchee, bon equipement et bon "jus".1916. Creator: Unknown
Bonne tranchee, bon equipement et bon "jus".1916. From "Collection de la Guerre IV. L'Illustration Tome CXLVII. La Guerre Janvier, Fevrier, Mars, Avril, Mai, Juin 1916"

The Siege of Sebastopol - Gordon's Attack with a Lancaster Gun, 1854. Creator: Unknown
The Siege of Sebastopol - Gordon's Attack with a Lancaster Gun, 1854. Crimean War: British soldiers with heavy artillery:..on the crest of a precipice, is a one-gun battery

Dahab Island, Cairo, Egypt
Mohamed Kazzaz

Inside a Russian fort during the siege - shell marks around a dummy gun - Port Arthur, c1905

WWII September 1939 Circular sandbag redoubt
Anti-aircraft post on the East Coast constructed of sandbags, formed in the first week of the Second World War. Date: 1939

Air raid shelter at West Ealing Goods Yard, 1940
A rather intriguing photo here of West Ealing Goods Yard, taken in 1940. The strange molehill shaped mounds dotted along the track are air raid shelters

Abandoned Building in No Mans Land, North Nicosia, Cyprus, Eastern Mediterranean Sea

British Embassy during the Siege of Peking, 1900 (b/w photo)
NUL204362 British Embassy during the Siege of Peking, 1900 (b/w photo) by French Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection

A communication trench somewhere in North Africa during Second World War. Circa 1940s

Checkpoint Charlie crossing point in the Berlin Wall located at the junction of Friedrichstrae with Zimmerstrae and Mauerstrae

Germany, Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie, US Army checkpoint and guardhouse reconstruction at the former crossing point between East and West Berlin

Bystander cover - Bruce Bairnsfather, Armistice Day
Front cover of The Bystander illustrated by the magazines most famous cartoonist, Captain Bruce Bairnsfather. With another world war underway

French soldiers raiding a German trench, First World War, 1914-1918, (1933). Creator: Unknown
French soldiers raiding a German trench, First World War, 1914-1918, (1933). French troops making a daylight raid on the German trenches in search of prisoners for information purposes

Australian troops in Turkey, First World War, 1915, (c1920). Creator: Unknown
Australian troops in Turkey, First World War, 1915, (c1920). Behind the Firing Line at Anzac Cove: " Splinter Villa", one of the Australian dug-outs

WW1 - Amiens Cathedral, France - Protection from air attack using a wall of sandbags (exterior). Date: circa 1915

Sandbag protection at Birmingham Snow Hill Station
Railway stations were on high alert during the war years. The principal stations on the GWR network were used by hundreds of people each day

Professor Huntingdon, Mr. Frank Hedges Butler, and the Hon. C. S. Rolls, 1906. The British crew who competed in the 1906 Gordon Bennett Cup

Allies on the Somme, British and French soldiers, WW1
Allies on the Somme, a British and French soldier, WW1 Date: circa 1916

Her Majesty, the Queen amongst sandbags
Her Majesty, the Queen photographed amongst sandbags, in an arched doorway in South Africa House, with the King, George VI in the background

Two nurses in uniform, on thousands of sandbags
Two nurses in uniform, pictured on thousands of sandbags. Photographed from above, outside a hospital, with sandbags stored for defence

WW1 - British soldiers firing from a captured German trench
WW1 - British soldiers firing from a defensive position in a captured German trench, strewn with the bodies of their vanquished foe. Date: circa 1916

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"From Blitz to Battlefields: The Resilience of Sandbags" During the Blitz in London, the Whitechapel Fire Station stood strong behind a wall of sandbags, protecting its brave firefighters. Meanwhile, on the Western Front during World War I, members of the Rifle Brigade took their positions amidst sandbags as they faced the horrors of war. In World War II, sandbags became essential for protection and communication. AFS despatch riders and messengers maneuvered through dangerous territories with sandbag-laden motorcycles. At Lambeth fire station, an enclosed pump fortified by sandbags ensured that firefighters could combat blazes even under intense bombing raids. They have witnessed historic moments beyond wars too. In 1969, at the Monaco Grand Prix, drivers raced past barriers made from these humble bags filled with earth. Back in World War I's trenches, Gurkhas stormed German fortifications and captured them while surrounded by towering piles of sandbags. Laundry hanging on the Siegfried Line was a sign that life continued amidst conflict during WWII. Air Raid patrols in London relied on strategically placed sandbag barricades to protect civilians from enemy attacks. Cooks Road's fire alarm post in Vauxhall served as a beacon amid chaos thanks to its sturdy foundation built upon countless sandbags. The Somme saw British and French soldiers united against adversity during WWI - their shared defense lines reinforced by rows upon rows of trusty sandbags. Even royalty sought refuge behind this protective barrier; Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II found herself amongst stacks of resilient bags during her reign. Amidst it all were two nurses dressed in uniform atop thousands of carefully arranged sandbags - symbols not only of safety but also compassion and care for those affected by war. Through history's trials and triumphs, one constant remains: Sandbags stand tall as silent sentinels guarding lives and preserving hope against all odds.