Volunteers and students have worked exceptionally hard researching original civil defence records held at Westminster City Archives in order to give you a picture of what life was like in the West End during the War.

"It was a privilege to handle the Westminster and St Marylebone Civil Defence records. They gave real insights into the challenges faced by the emergency teams as the Blitz hit both boroughs. I could follow the response to individual bomb incidents, minute-by-minute, in pencilled messages written under the extreme pressure of events. The 70-year-old documents had a fire-damaged smell about them: the actual atmosphere of the Blitz". Ronan Thomas

This page will be updated continuously as more research is completed. So make sure you keep visiting us!