London Blitz Pictures Show Just How Far The City Has Come Since World War Two

The Blitz (shortened from the German term blitzkrieg, meaning lightning war) began on 7 September 1940 and ended on 11 May 1941.

This year marks 75 years since the end of the bombing raids, which saw upward of 40,000 civilians.

The attacks took place on cities around the country as well as London, with ports including Bristol, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Southampton and Swansea also targeted, as were the industrial cities of Birmingham, Belfast, Coventry, Glasgow, Manchester and Sheffield.

The Blitz changed the face of much of Britain forever and these images show just how different the streets of London looked...

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A police officer and a soldier inspecting the aftermath of a German air raid on Portman Street, London, 19th September 1940.

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Bomb damage in London's Leicester Square in 1941.

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A blaze in the Negretti and Zambra building at Holborn Circus, London, after a German bombing raid.

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Londoners sheltering on a platform at Bounds Green tube station during an air raid in The Blitz on 16th October 1940.

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A wrecked Humber car on Pall Mall, London after an air raid during the London Blitz, 15th October 1940.

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A crater and damaged railings outside Buckingham Palace, London, after the explosion of a German bomb dropped in an air raid the previous day, 14th September 1940.

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The interior of Westminster Abbey after a German bombing raid in May 1941.

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Soldiers help to clear the debris of Bank Underground Station, in front of The Royal Exchange, London, the morning after receiving a direct hit during the Blitz. The slogan 'Dig For Victory' adorns the Exchange.

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A view east down the Thames towards smoke rising from fires in Surrey docks, following the first German air raid of the London Blitz, 7th September 1940.

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A huge hole in the Strand, where a bomb was dropped during an air raid over central London. It fell near the Gaiety Theatre and the church of St. Mary-le-Strand can be seen in the background.

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Bomb damage caused by an air raid on Berkeley Square, London, 29th April 1942.

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A bus is left leaning against the side of a terrace in Harrington Square, Mornington Crescent, in the aftermath of a German bombing raid on London in the first days of the Blitz, 9th September 1940. The bus was empty at the time, but eleven people were killed in the houses.