Great Britain in World War II (1939-1944)

View of a section of London after a Nazi air raid in September 1940 (top).

Ruins of a house.

A woman walks through the ruins.

Children being evacuated.

Faces of parents seeing their children off.

A sentry on duty.

Prime Minister Chamberlain walks through the streets of London with a gas mask over his shoulder.

A sinking British ship.

Captured German submariners disembark along the gangway.

British sailors wave their hats from the side of the ship.

Cars of the French delegation parked outside the building.

General Gamelin among members of the French delegation.

General Ironside exits the building onto Downing Street.

Chamberlain acknowledges the greetings by raising his hat.

Members of the French delegation exit the building.

Soldiers in field uniform at the entrance to Buckingham Palace.

An infantry unit marches through the streets of London.

Soldiers enter the cathedral.

Parades of British troops in London after war was declared on Germany.

British soldiers loading boxes onto a truck platform.

Building permanent bridges to block off gaps in the streets of London in case of an air raid.

Installing an anti-aircraft gun in a park.

One of the units of the British Army marches into the cathedral before leaving for the theatre of military operations in France, the cathedral building.

Troops leaving for France march through the streets of London, followed by a column of mobilized reservists in civilian clothes.

Generals greet the passing unit.

Troops led by a brass band pass by the cathedral building.

Representatives of the British aristocracy are going hunting with packs of dogs.

The participants of the hunt ride past on horseback.

The hunters set the dogs on the trail of a fox, and on horseback they drive the game to death.

The dogs capture the fox.

One of the huntsmen presents a fox tail to the French guest.

Installing an air defense searchlight in one of the squares of London.

Mobilized soldiers board a bus.

Women's faces seeing their husbands off.

A soldier's face in a bus window.

A woman kisses her husband goodbye.

Soldiers wave goodbye from bus windows.

Construction of sealed cracks in one of the parks, excavation work during the construction of protective structures in London parks.

Text of a poster-guide on how to use a gas mask.

Unloading boxes from a van.

Women standing in line for gas masks.

Women's faces.

People standing in line for gas masks.

Barrage balloons rising over London.

View of central London (above).

Balloons over city blocks (above).

Destruction in London after another bombing.

Clearing rubble and carrying out the wounded, pulled out from under the rubble.

Anti-Hitler demonstrations in London.

The face of Lord Halifax walking down the street.

Soldiers and reservists on the streets of London.

Construction of protective structures in one of the city parks.

Women putting on gas masks and adjusting them to size.

Soldiers march along a train carriage.

Soldiers sailing to France wave from the deck of a ship.

Londoners at newspaper stands and in street cafes.

A sentry passes a coiled barbed wire fence.

British troops fight during the Phoney War in France.

Residents of a London suburb build defensive structures.

A British officer at barbed wire fences on the English Channel coast.

A device for giving an air raid alarm signal.

Civilian actions upon receiving an air raid alarm signal; farmers stop working.

A baby is placed in a protective anti-chemical suit.

A woman picks up a child and carries him away.

An air defense observation post on the seashore in August 1940. The observation post radio operator transmits data on approaching air targets.

The anti-aircraft gun crew takes their positions.

Aiming the gun.

Ships of the British navy on a campaign.

German dive bombers attack British ships.

A downed plane falls into the water.

Dropping bombs on incoming ships.

German planes approaching a target.

Giving an air raid alarm signal at an airfield by striking a bell.

The pilots run to their planes at the signal.

The engines of the interceptors are started.

One of the pilots gets into the fighter cockpit.

The interceptors are taking off.

Warships at sea.

German dive bombers approach their targets, the face of a German pilot.

A bomb hits the stern of a ship.

British fighters begin an air battle.

Episodes of an air battle.

A hit on a German bomber.

The downed plane falls into the water.

British and German fighters fight.

The crash of a burning German bomber.

A downed German bomber on the ground.

German planes bomb British ships.

A British fighter destroys a German bomber.

The tail of a downed German plane.

British technicians examine the wreckage of a German plane.

Boxes with cargo from the USA, delivered to Great Britain.

Unloading military equipment at a port.

The face of a port worker.

British fighters in flight.

Dropping bombs from German planes.

British aircraft hidden and camouflaged near houses in the countryside.

British fighters in flight.

Pilots of downed aircraft parachute into the water.

Rescue boat comes to the rescue.

Boat commander with binoculars.

Parachute canopy on the waves.

Seaplane flies over downed pilot signaling from rubber boat.

Rescue of pilot from water with seaplane.

Lifting German pilot from water onto boat deck.

German pilot thanks British sailor for saving him.

Riddled tail of downed German plane.

Faces of captured crew members of German bombers.

Prisoners of war go to work.

British transport ship underway.

Soldiers on the ship's deck.

The wounded are boarded for evacuation.

Loading the wounded onto the ship.

Bath and laundry services for the British military, changing linen.

Serving hot food to soldiers in carriages.

Serving soldiers coffee and cigarettes through open carriage windows.

Air battles between German and British pilots over the English Channel.

An airplane being hit.

A flight board in one of the British air units in September 1940. The fall of a downed airplane.

A British fighter plane goes around the clouds, gains altitude.

Map of the landing of the Allied forces in Italy in 1943. British soldiers on the streets of Italian cities and villages.

People on the streets of Rome.

Ancient ruins in Italy.

Views of the streets of one of the cities in Italy during its occupation by Allied troops.

A British machine gunner fires.

British soldiers during a firefight on one of the streets.

A tank passes through a house.

Tank gun fires at the upper floors of a building.

British infantry and tanks engage in street fighting.

Tanks advance down the street.

Paratroopers leave the aircraft, parachute canopies in the sky.

Mass airborne assault.

A floating armoured personnel carrier enters the water.