Tag: Second World War
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Hitler’s Guy Fawkes Day Surprise: The Archway V2 Rocket Attack 1944
Where three residential roads in Archway, Islington, north London, meet is the site of a tragic loss of civilian life during the Second World War (1939-45). A plaque commemorating the event can be seen at Giesbach Road Open Space, Giesbach Road, Islington N19 3EH. The aftermath of the V2 Rocket…
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Blitzed Islington: Islington and the London Blitz (1940-41)
The 80th anniversary of the start of the London Blitz (7 September 1940 – 10/11 May 1941), during the Second World War, is being remembered nationally from Monday 7 September 2020. On ‘Black Saturday’ 7 September 1940, at around 4pm, and lasting for two hours, nearly 1000 German bombers and…
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Islington and the Last Night of The Blitz (10/11 May 1941)
On 11 May 1941, after eight months and five days of constant threat and terror, the nationwide Blitz came to an end. Up to this point, approximately 41,000 tons of bombs had been dropped in total, with 18,291 tons falling on London alone. Around 41,000 people had been killed, 21,500…
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The Blitz Period in Islington (1940-41)
THE “BLITZ” PERIOD – SEPTEMBER TO JULY 1941 By W. Eric Adams (Islington Town Clerk and ARP Controller) The 80th anniversary of the start of the London Blitz (7 September 1940 – 10/11 May 1941), during the Second World War, is being remembered nationally from Monday 7 September 2020. This…
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How Islington Greeted VJ Day 1945
The 75th anniversary of VJ Day (Victory over Japan), marking the end of the Second World War, is being commemorated nationally on Saturday 15 August 2020. Millions of people across the world celebrated the Allied victory over Japan in August and September 1945, including Londoners and the residents of Islington…
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We’ll Meet Again: VE-Day Celebrations
As the final installment of the exhibition We’ll Meet Again: Islington on the Home Front in Photographs 1939-45, we look at how the people of Islington and Finsbury celebrated Victory in Europe Day, or ‘VE-Day’ in May 1945. Monday 7 May 1945 marked a joyous occasion – the formal surrender…
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Researching We’ll Meet Again: a volunteer’s experience
At Islington Museum we are lucky to have a dedicated team of volunteers that share their skills and expertise with us regularly. These volunteers assist us with a huge range of activities on a daily basis, from customer service, to collections work, educational assistance and research. A recent addition to…
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The German Destroyer in Finsbury
The captured Messerschmitt Bf 110, pictured above on display outside Finsbury Town Hall, Garnault Place in October 1940, became the most photographed Luftwaffe plane of WW2. The aircraft was a twin-engined heavy fighter or ‘Zerstörer’ (‘Destroyer’ in English) flown by the Luftwaffe and some other nations during WW2. It was…
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We’ll Meet Again: Carry On!
As part of the exhibition We’ll Meet Again: Islington on the Home Front in Photographs 1939-45, we delve further into life on the Home Front for the people of Islington and Finsbury during the Second World War. Whilst the people of Britain had to adapt to new ways of living…
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Each bob you pay keeps the bomber away: The Islington Spitfire
Lord Beaverbrook, the Anglo-Canadian media tycoon Max Aitken, came into the British Government in early 1940 to help speed up aircraft production. He was an advocate of public appeals to raise funds for things like raw materials and also encouraged the public to shop thriftily to help the war effort.…
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