Civilians, supervised by Air Raid Protection (ARP) Wardens, sheltering from a German air raid in Aldwitch Underground railway station, London, October, 1940.  Best regards, JR.

Keeping calm, carrying on ...

In mid-1940 - before the Battle of Britain and the Blitz - the London Board of Education distributed informational material to schools, illustrating how pupils and staff should behave should air raids occur during school hours.  I fear that this approach might not have proved adequate as a response to actual bombs and incendiaries.

As I am sure some of our American friends will recall, the "Duck and Cover" line was still being offered to school kids in the US as a response to possible nuclear attacks in the 1950s and '60s (in the US, they even used an informational movie with a cheery "Duck and Cover" jingle), and variations on the theme were promulgated in Europe.  Just as well the nukes never came - anywhere in the vicinity of a nuclear blast, the duckers and coverers would, literally, have been toast.  Oh well.  I suppose it made people feel a bit better, anyway ... Best regards, JR.

"Duck and Cover !"

England's south-east coast did not have the Tube but - unlike London with its clay - it did have a very handy chalk geology that lent itself to quick and efficient tunneling.  These Hasting residents are sheltering in chalk tunnels bored out under their town.  In fact, "residents" is a term that could equally be applied to their tenure in the tunnels.  Many residents moved in for the duration of the Blitz, bringing beds and other furniture with them, and cooking, eating and recreational spaces were set aside for them.

These tunnels were relatively easy to conceal from the air, and were also very, very bomb-proof.  In consequence, over the duration of the war, similar tunnels were used to conceal whole factories, as well as military installations.  In the period between the fall of France and the end of the Blitz (and beyond), the Royal Navy, the RAF and the British intelligence services maintained headquarters units and listening stations at King Henry VIII's early modern Dover Castle - but most of the action there was actually underground in an extensive underground system of chalk tunnels.  Best regards, JR.