The London Blitz: Sheltering in a London tube station

Sheltering in a tube station may have given a sense of security but, as the picture shows, conditions were hardly attractive. Space was limited and many have spoken of the terrible smell of so many people sheltering in a confined space without adequate ventilation. Many people became territorial about 'their space' leading to frequent arguments.

Nor was the tube always as safe as those sheltering within had hoped: in January 1941 a bomb fell above Bank station in the City of London, killing and injuring more than 100 hundred people sheltering below.