London's Bank station feels the force of a Luftwaffe raid
Exhibition: Under Attack - London/Coventry/Dresden, London Transport Museum, London, until March 31 2011
In the recent commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the start of the Blitz it is easy to focus on London and the images of German bombers following the moonlit Thames to bring terror and destruction to the heart of the capital. It's also easy to forget that the devastation was felt outside London and even outside Britain.
Under Attack, the new exhibition at London Transport Museum, looks at the effects of aerial bombings on three cities, London, Coventry and Dresden, examining the role public transport played during these difficult times and celebrating the work of the everyday heroes who kept the cities moving.
British posters were more pragmatic than their German counterparts
Photographs and posters are used all over the gallery and help to bring the period alive as well as demonstrating the different uses of propaganda on each side.
The Nazi propaganda machine told the people of Dresden that they would never be hit by allied bombs, which meant the city was completely unprepared for the 1945 strike.
In Britain, aerial strikes seemed inevitable, and instead the propaganda campaign focused on resilience, with pictures and photos of jolly cockneys taking shelter in the London tube tunnels.
Walter Spradbery's poster depicting a dignified and defiant St Pauls amongst the Blitz rumble, Proud City, was reprinted 27,000 times and in several different languages. The Arabic version is on display here.
Public transport was key in keeping a sense of normality in the cities, and it was a top priority to keep it running. In Coventry, public buses were borrowed from other cities including London and Manchester to replace those destroyed.
Walter Spradbery's Proud City poster was reproduced 27,000 times
There was also a large push to encourage women to become conductors to replace the men who were at work. A lovely edition of Women and Home magazine, from August 1943, urges women to become bus conductors.
This exhibition introduces the visitor to the world of the everyday during the Blitz in Britain and the Firestorm of Dresden, and underlines the importance of these transport systems not only to the functionality of the city but to the people within it. Most of all this is an exhibition of reconciliation and friendship.
Coventry and Dresden were twinned in 1956 and through this exhibition they have become part of triplets united in remembrance and understanding.
