Docklands at War

See rare images from the Museum of London’s collections to commemorate VE Day

To commemorate VE Day today, the Museum of London Docklands has made available some rare images to view online. These photographs, paintings and artefacts are part of the museum's Docklands at War collection and would have been on display were it not for the current circumstances. With that in mind, they've allowed us to publish a selection on the JR blog so that visitors can virtually explore London's East End during wartime, from the first night of the Blitz to the devastation that was left in its wake.

River Emergency Services volunteers

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Part of a German bomb and an air raid precautions rattle

© Museum of London

Superintendent’s office, Royal Albert Dock, October 1938

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

St Katharine Docks air raid damage

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Churchill visits some of the thousands of workers at East India Dock, 1944

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

The army handling dock cargo, October 1945

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

The Prime Minister and Mrs Churchill with a group of auxiliary firemen, touring London's dock in September 1940

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Tanks arriving prior to embarkation for the D Day landings, 1944

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Staff of the Port of London’s Mobile Canteen No.32 dispense tea to queuing dockers, 1942

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

The Docklands ablaze during The Blitz on 7 September, 1940

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Tin of whalemeat steak and a tin of dried eggs

© Museum of London

Air raid damage to Royal Albert Dock sheds, October 1940

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Air raid damage to Royal Albert Dock shed 33

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Burnt out store building at Royal Albert Dock after air raid damage, October 1940

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

West India Dock WWII concrete air raid shelter , July 1939

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Damage caused by a V1 rocket that hit Royal Victoria Dock, 1944

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

General Montgomery speaking to 16,000 port workers before the invasion of France, June 1944

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Bomb damage to London Dock, December 1940

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Royal Docks air raid precautions, July 1939

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Bomb damage to the Albion pub, January 1943

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Bomb damage to the Guiness shed in London Dock, December 1940

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Bomb damage to London Dock, December 1940

© PLA Collection / Museum of London

Night Raid Over London by 'fireman artist' Wilfred Stanley Haines, c 1941

© Museum of London

Night Raid Over London Docklands by ‘fireman artist’ Wilfred Stanley Haines

© Museum of London

Visit the Museum of London Docklands website to see more from their collections.