I Photographed This Old British WWII Air Raid Shelter—the Walls Lined With Portraits Of 1940s Women And Soldiers

“Turn Right And Duck”. This stencilled instruction greets me at the bottom of the entrance ramp, illuminated by my trusty torch. The air is cooler down here, and very damp. It is surprisingly refreshing, not as musty as I was expecting! I can hear the echoes of water dripping, somewhere off to the right. Other than this intermittent sounds, it is quite silent down here. So peaceful and calm.

This World War 2 air raid shelter was built for the workers of a nearby factory, to act as refuge in case of German bombing attacks. The 250m long shelter runs parallel to the long factory building, with entrances every 20m or so to allow rapid entry. The tunnels were once lined with benches, although these are no removed you can still see the shadows and fixture markings on the floor.

One of the sections is special, probably something unique. This is what I am here to photograph one this chilly evening. Here the walls are lined with portraits, around 20 of them. They appear to be drawn with charcoal, or perhaps from soot from a lamp flame. Each portrait is artistically done, and they show a marvellous diversity of characters. There are soldiers with uniforms and helmets. There are also well dressed gentlemen, including a distinguished man in a stylish suit and smoking a pipe. Most of the portraits are of women, fashionable dressed and with 1940s pin curl hair. Several of these portraits are accompanied by initials, either the artist’s signature or perhaps the initials of the person in the portrait.

On the roof there is writing, awkward and disjointed letters drawn with lantern soot or cigarette lighters. The words are hard to read, I manage to pick out some early 1940s dates among the jumble.

It seems that these were drawn by workers whiling away time in this underground shelter, awaiting the “All clear!” signal to emerge back to the surface. Men and women huddling in the dark, creating beautiful art by lamp light as bombs rain down above. This evocative scene fills my mind as I walk these tunnels so many decades later.

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