I thought I knew it all: D-Day, rationing, evacuations, Stalingrad, Goebbels. But I was so terribly wrong.
In reality, my knowledge of the Second World War is restricted to the national curriculum and my grandfather’s memories of hiding in brummy bunkers.
With 8 May marking VE Day, we are fast approaching 80 years since allied victory. To mark the occasion, the London Archives have gathered artefacts about some of the lesser-known truths – and individuals – of the war in a single, dark room.
Paintings, drawings and documents reveal a different, unknown side to the conflict. One of the greatest successes of the exhibition is its focus on the specific people involved in the war, who otherwise remain nameless or incorporated into statistics.
The diary of Percy Home, an artist from South Kensington, particularly drew me in with its smudged charcoal sketches, vibrant water colours and clippings. Full to the brim with anecdotes, the diary places the modern reader on the home front, bringing to life the war’s horrors and atrocities as if they were happening today. We ourselves hear the “roar” as “two doodles” or V1 rockets soar overhead, threatening those below.
Elsewhere, curators went back in time to explore their own histories. Archive officer Mark Arnold has extensively clawed through records about his own grandfather, George Roper, who served in the Auxiliary Fire Service.
The London Archives have also dedicated a whole section to the forgotten South Asian civil defence volunteers in WW2. Dorai Ross, born in Tranquebar, now India, was the first Auxiliary Station Officer at Ambulance Station 50 in St Pancras. He persuaded London County Council to open an “Indian station” to recruit drivers from the South Asian population.
An avid Call the Midwife Fan, I was particularly excited to see a whole section dedicated to Poplar, where the BBC series is based. Visitors can expect to walk out of the exhibition knowing more about the Luftwaffe’s advances on the dockyards. Although the Nazi air assault brought tragic consequences – and left Popular a wasteland – the exhibition argues that it allowed for the East End’s extensive redevelopment and modernisation into what we see today.
After nearly 80 years, the legacy of the Second World War lives on, despite it being an event in the distant past. As the number of people who remember the home front dwindle, along with their memories, it is exhibitions like these that keep them alive. Make sure to visit before the end of October.
24th February – 30th October 2025
The London Archives, Northampton Road
Admission: Free
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MA Newspaper Journalism at City, University of London. Bylines in MyLondon, Clash Magazine, DIY Magazine, and more. Freelance Arts and Culture Journalist.