Bristol is a city and county in South West England. The district has the 10th-largest population in England. The city borders North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, with the cities of Bath and Gloucester to the south-east and north-east, respectively.
During World War II, Bristol was heavily damaged by Luftwaffe raids. About 1,300 people living or working in the city were killed and nearly 100,000 buildings were damaged, at least 3,000 beyond repair. The original central market area, near the bridge and castle, is now a park containing two bombed churches and fragments of the castle.
These historic photos that captured street scenes of Bristol during the Second World War.
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| Gas mask drill, 1939 |
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| Children and sandbags, 1939 |
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| Gas masks over the garden fence, 1939 |
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| A double-decker bus was badly damaged during this raid, Whiteladies Road, December 1940 |
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| A dentist chair is all that is left of No.2 Dolphin Street, Castle Park, December 1940 |
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| An unknown Bedminster housewife paints her window with a shatter-proof lacquer because of the danger of flying glass during the ‘Blitz’, 1940 |
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| Bristol Evening Post, May 1940 |
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| Child evacuees, 1940 |
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| King George VI on a visit to Bristol, 1940 |
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| Land Army girls replaced men on the farm during the war, 1940 |
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| Looking towards Mary Le Port and Bridge Streets from top of Baldwin Street near Bristol Bridge, 1940 |
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| Looking towards the City Centre from College Green before the air raids on Bristol, 1940 |
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| Metal for munitions, 1940 |
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| Newspaper vendor, Angel Fountain, High Street, 1940 |
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| One of the great granaries took a direct hit in the city docks, 1940 |
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| Smart’s store, Union Street, 1940 |
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| St James Barton, 1940 |
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| The Dutch House on the corner of Wine Street and High Street was reduced to a charred skeleton and for safety’s sake it had to be pulled down, 1940 |
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| A dawn scene after a night raid on Union Street, 1941 |
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| View of the Dutch House, with its statue soldier still on guard before the bombed-out remnants were pulled down, 1941 |
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| Air raid wardens pose for the camera at the Crescent, Henleaze, Bristol, 1941 |
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| Bedminster residents enjoying their Christmas party in an air raid shelter, 1941 |
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| Bedminster tram depot in West street after an air raid, 1941 |
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| Blitz on West Street near Chessel Road, Bedminster, 1941 |
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| Cheriton Place Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze, 1941 |
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| Evacuation at Temple Meads station, 1941 |
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| Families who were bombed out of their homes, 1941 |
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| “Give us the tools, we will finish the job”, July 1941 |
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| People lost homes, 1941 |
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| Peter Street, 1941 |
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| Sailors help bombed-out Bristolians collect their remaining belongings, 1941 |
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| St Francis’, North Street, Ashton, 1941 |
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| Stafford Street, Bedminster, 1941 |
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| The Children of Bristol leave their families and homes for Devon and Safety at Temple Meads Railway Station, 1941 |
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| Utter devastation in Bristol after a night of air-raids, 1941 |
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| Victim of the blitz, 1941 |
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| View from the still standing Odeon cinema showing the bomb damage in Union Street and the Castle Street area, 1941 |
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| Water froze in the hosepipes, January 1941 |
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| Wine Street, 1941 |
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| Winston Churchill outside the shop of S.W. Pitman at the junction of Raleigh Road and Leighton Road, Southville, 1941 |
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| A doll’s house survived the blitz of Newfoundland Road, 1942 |
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| A lone figure walks through the ruins of Dolphin Street, 1942 |
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| A rescue worker digs deep into the ruins of a house in St Michael’s Hill, 1942 |
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| A triumphant bomb disposal team with one that failed to go off, 1942 |
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| After a night of heavy bombing, 1942 |
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| Air raid wardens at Muller’s Orphanage, 1942 |
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| Bedminster West Street Baptist, 1942 |
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| Bomb damage at Bristol Homeopathic Hospital in Cotham, 1942 |
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| Bomb damage in the City Docks, 1942 |
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| Bristol blitz victims being fed at an unknown parish hall, 1942 |
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| Bus conductors, 1942 |
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| Crowds turn out to watch this military parade march down Park Street towards the City Centre, June 4th, 1942 |
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| Daylight air raid on Broad Weir, August 28th, 1942 |
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| Daylight air raid on Broad Weir, August 28th, 1942 |
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| Holy Trinity Church, Hotwells, 1942 |
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| Prince’s Theatre, Park Row, 1942 |
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| St Anselm’s Church, Clifton Down, Bristol, 1942 |
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| The burnt out remains of St Peter’s Church, Castle Park, circa 1942 |
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| The mobile greengrocer, 1942 |
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| The pub might have vanished but there’s still time for a pint, 1942 |
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| The remains of Wine Street after a night of fire and destruction, 1942 |
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| Winston Churchill tours bomb-battered Bristol with his wife Clementine, 1942 |
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| Women’s voluntary service, 1942 |
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| A group of US soldiers outside Filton House, 1943 |
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| An American GI and his Bristol girlfriend are interviewed by a BBC roving reporter, 1943 |
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| German planes transported through the street’s of Bristol, 1943 |
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| Unexploded bomb outside 7 Beckington Road, April 14th, 1943 |
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| Bomb damage buildings on Bristol’s St Michael’s Hill, 1944 |
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| Allington Road, Southville, Bristol on VE Day, May 8th, 1945 |
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| Temple Meads Railway Station is boarded up after it was damaged in a bombing-raid, 1945 |
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| The White Funnel paddle steamer Britannia in full camouflage returns to Hotwells, Bristol from war service, May 1945 |
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| VE Day celebrations in Hill Street, Totterdown, Bristol, May 8th, 1945 |
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| Victory tea party in the Muller Road area of Eastville on VE-Day, May 8th, 1945 |
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| Crowds at Temple Meads boarding a London bound train, 1945 |
