London Transport Museum continues its commemoration of the Blitz with some excellent events over the coming weeks.
Newsreel footage from the Second World War can be fascinating from the modern perspective. News bulletins were routinely used for purposes of propaganda and to boost public morale. In contrast, what we might think of as highly newsworthy events such as the first rocket attacks on the capital were often hushed up and censored. Tomorrow (18 January), the Museum will screen Propaganda and Reality, a collection of commercial newsreel, official documentaries and feature film clips portraying the London Blitz. Film and video curator Simon Murphy will introduce the footage and place it in context with more objective reporting. The screening starts at 6.30pm.
A second event on Tuesday 25 January (6.30pm) looks beyond London to other heavily bombed British cities. Juliet Gardiner, social historian and former editor of History Today, describes the attacks on areas such as Merseyside, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Plymouth, Hull, Clydeside and Belfast, and how the populations of those places developed a 'Blitz spirit' of dogged defiance.
Juliet will then return on 22 March to discuss the legacy of the Blitz, and to consider if the lessons learned from the experience are still having an impact on our lives today.
All events last approximately one hour. Tickets cost £8 adults, £6 senior citizens, £4 students, and can be booked in advance on 020 7565 7298. Tickets for both of Juliet's talks are £14 adults, £10 senior citizens, £6 students.
The events support the Museum’s latest exhibition, Under Attack: London, Coventry and Dresden, which explores the struggle of these three cities to keep moving during the Second World War and finishes on 31 March 2011.
Article in partnership with London Transport Museum.
