We got these sent a while back, so thought I'd share them here, some amazing shots. Of course London certainly wasn't the only city in Europe to be bombed, so if anyone has got any other pics, feel free to post them as well.
"Until a few years ago, photographs from the World War II were only seen in grainy black and white. The brunt of the attacks on London were between September 7, 1940 and May 10th 1941, with the attacks carried out continuously for 76 nights and killing over 40,000 people. On July 19th 1941 Sir Winston Churchill launched his “V for Victory†campaign. On the 70th Anniversary of this campaign, with the advent of digital and other technologies, new color images of the destruction inflicted by the bombings of London have emerged."
(http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l575/PendrakenMiniatures/Blitz%20Pics/image00223.jpg)
Clearing up: Workers remove rubble from a building decimated in a heavy German air raid during the Blitz. Wallpaper inside the shattered bedrooms can even be seen in the gap left in the row of houses.
(http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l575/PendrakenMiniatures/Blitz%20Pics/image00334.jpg)
Standing tall: The spire of the Central Criminal Court - better known as the Old Bailey - rises defiantly while all around it buildings have become jagged shells in a landscape scarred by the bombs.
(http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l575/PendrakenMiniatures/Blitz%20Pics/image00445.jpg)
On the night of October 14th 1940, a bomb penetrated the road and exploded in Balham Underground station, killing 68 people. A No 88 bus travelling in black-out conditions then fell into the crater.
(http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l575/PendrakenMiniatures/Blitz%20Pics/image00556.jpg)
In this extraordinary picture, the double-Decker bus is still visible amid crumbling tarmac and bent girders left in an enormous crater caused by a bomb which landed in the middle of a Balham high street, south London.
(http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l575/PendrakenMiniatures/Blitz%20Pics/image00667.jpg)
Ablaze: Firemen battle to control flames raging through a town house ravaged by a direct hit in 1940.
(http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l575/PendrakenMiniatures/Blitz%20Pics/image00778.jpg)
This eerie image shows a London road deserted and covered in rubble after an air raid.
(http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l575/PendrakenMiniatures/Blitz%20Pics/image00889.jpg)
Preparing for battle: A noticeably young ground crew prepare a Spitfire in a field outside of London during the height of the Battle of Britain. In the foreground a group of pilots pause to discuss tactics.
(http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l575/PendrakenMiniatures/Blitz%20Pics/image009910.jpg)
Stiff upper lip: A man determined to keep a sense of normality reads a book on a park bench as a moored barrage balloon, designed to scupper air attacks, floats in the background and a second, right, soars above.
(http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l575/PendrakenMiniatures/Blitz%20Pics/image0101011.jpg)
The random nature of the bombing is clearly demonstrated here as a church, right, remains untouched while a vast swathe of buildings close by were reduced to rubble.
(http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l575/PendrakenMiniatures/Blitz%20Pics/image0111112.jpg)
Wreckage: Workers wielding pick-axes and shovels are tasked with clearing away the remains of bombed building that would have once stood next to this Central London church.
(http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l575/PendrakenMiniatures/Blitz%20Pics/image0121213.jpg)
Not seeing the pictures.
Just getting the red cross on a white square showing broken image link.
Nope me neither
Only bold text, nothing else :(.
help me ! I'm blind too !
:D
All fixed now, hope they were worth the wait!
:D
Yes! Seriously good shots Leon. :D
seen some but not all, brilliant pics though :)
Good show, somewhat eerie though. :-bd
Good stuff sir.
IanS
Quote from: HPFlashman on 31 January 2013, 01:13:03 AM
Good show, somewhat eerie though. :-bd
The definition on some of those is incredible.
I'm assuming some of them, at least, were taken on a 5x4inch plate camera.....With a damn good lens.
As Harry says.....Rather eerie.
Cheers - Phil
Great !
Thank you !
Stunning pictures
Only ever seen the one of the bus in black and white
Stunning pictures of a dreadfull event. I remember how my grandmother used to tell tales of stukas and the v1 and v2 attacks. She got a leg full off shrapnell from those. But seeing this it was 100x worse over there!
Colour is slightly iffy, as I suppose you'd expect after seventy years, but it certainly illustrates the devastation caused. Saddest of all would have been the fate of the 68 people killed at Balham, down in the south of London. They would have thought themselves safe down in the tube station.
From memory Balham is one of the shallow stations - when the line had steam traction, which is why it was penetrated.
IanS
Fantastic pics Leon 8)
Wow. I didn't know those pictures. Seeing the destructions in colour is more dramatic.
colour pictures seem to make it very fresh, and people just kept on working through. a touch of snow or a minor road accident causes total chaos nowadays.