LONDON (AP) — Rare color footage of the bomb damage inflicted on London during World War II has surfaced on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Blitz.
The dramatic footage shows the destruction of several London landmarks, including the flagship John Lewis store on Oxford Street.
The film was released Monday by Westminster Council to mark the start of the devastating German bombing campaign that began September 7, 1940, and continued until May 1941.
The film was found in the attic by the family of an air raid warden who shot it on the home movie equipment in use in the 1940s.
The footage also shows wartime leader Winston Churchill visiting bomb sites to assess the damage.
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Comments (61)
Sunnyr
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 4:49pmAs I was watching the Video I thought of 9/11 which was far worse than this sad incident. Now that Captain Clueless is looking the other way while Iran is making 3 nuclear weapons, it is indeed a frightening world we live in. We have to get rid of the SLUG in the White House and hire a responsible, mature LEADER with credentials. No more gambling with our childrens future.
Report Post »nicholjm
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 12:50pmYes, go Sarah Palin!
Report Post »chiawapa
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 3:46pmIf you are not aware of this we are being invaded on our southern border and BO sends pencile pushers that need offices to write reports. Our county is so poor we collect donations to help buy rifes and ammo for our sheriffs. The American Border Patrol have been given orders to fall back were it is safe and God help those that live in that 70 to 100 mile fall back safe area. And the news is not handling this as it should. Americans, yes Americans are being murdered. And it goes way past the border area. Mexico is supporting Hamas and have allways let our enimies set up camp on their side of the border. The drug lords war is here now. I pray we can make it through this terrible time in history and have some real leadership to deal with this mess. The Muslim probem is so large it boggles the mind. If not checked in some way, just their birth rate alone will take the United States over in fifty years. That is based on the population statistics of today with no other Muslems moving into America. Their birth rate is six babies born to every one american and this statistic is of white America. White America is the minority in its this country, what does that say? Ofcourse they hate us all regadless your race unless you are one of them. Please study these Muslims their own teachings teach them it is ok to lie to further their cause. Well I have said quite enough.
Report Post »God Bless America,
I am native American and very proud of my country.
If you are reading this you are more aware than most Americans you need to let the others know as best you can, we are in trouble from within.
Daniel in Denver
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 1:10amWell said.
Report Post »nicholjm
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 12:48pmWas there a single fact in that post?
Report Post »wojtyla4pope
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 2:30pmSadly, the scenes in this footage resemble footage taken in other places of our troubled world today. The walking wounded being helped into a makeshift aid station, bombed out businesses, neighborhoods and the families that they were home to destroyed, and the overall terrible destruction of war should be a reminder of how much we do not learn from history and are, therefore, doomed to repeat it. May we begin to learn from our mistakes of the past to avoide the disasters of the future.
Report Post »D-Jay
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 1:59pmHaunting.
Report Post »solarflare
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 1:27pmSeeing it in color really makes the WW feel a bit too close.
Report Post »BednEddie
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 1:17pmIf B.O. had been Prime Minister of Great Britain back then he would have recommended a stimulus bill to halt the raids…..
Report Post »BednEddie
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 1:15pmIf B.O had been Prime Minister of England back then he would have recommended a stimulus bill to stop the raids….
Report Post »cnerd
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 1:10pmAmazing times. Sad we have forgotten them. I think that the greatest man to have lived in the modern era (warts and all) was Winston Churchill.
Report Post »DPalAngelo
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 1:03pmMay the world never forget. May we all have the fortitude that those people did.
Report Post »Pierce
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 12:46pmIt is amazing to think that our government today could never have stood up to Hitler and his chums.
The greatest fire power in the history of the world and no one sane enough or civilized enough to use it.
Our government today will go down in history as the biggest bunch of losers ever to make it to Washington.
Report Post »HilltopView
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 12:14pmThank you Pierce, I have watched many hours of WWII videos, The War by Ken Burns, The Propaganga (FOR America) Films distributed in those years, done by Frank Capra, etc. We were going through the pre-election year of ‘08, I realized that we, our Country as a whole, would collapse if we had go through anything close to that horror.
Report Post »hopester55
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 12:38pmClarity is amazing.
Report Post »tatankachief
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 12:30pmOur enemies have gotten smarter. Now they use our own ‘tolerance’ and ‘apathy’ to infiltrate and wage war against us from home. They’ve even been successful in getting people into the halls of congress, and yes ………………. now the White House.
If you’re not afraid, you’re simply not watching and listening………………
Report Post »Texas Patriot
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 12:28pmGreat video, the open air triage unit was amazing, don’t see that anymore.
I am so glad that the U.S. stepped in to help them, or else the whole of England would have looked as those buildings in the video did.
Report Post »nicholjm
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 12:42pmSlight inaccuracy there, America did not join the war until after the Battle of Britain was won, the blitz carried on a few mone months but this was a time when the UK was on her own, an showed her bulldog spirit! To be sure there was material help in the form of food and raw materials via the sea, but again, not in great quantity until later in the war. The US WAS most definately the reason teha allies won the war, no disputing that at all.
Report Post »nanadorothy
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 12:23pmMy Dad was and ambulance driver during WWII…..my Mom was English, worked in the coding
dept in London. They met there…..and then there was me! Amazing footage!!!!!
Keats
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 12:19pmThe sad part is, Winston Churchill would be hanged out to dry because he was one of those filthy rotten smokers/drinkers. That’s all that would matter to our green/health zombies today. “We will fight on the beaches…..“ ”Oh yuck, omigod, he’s got a cigar, shut him up!”
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 12:12pmIf that happened in America there would be people looting the buildings for basketball shoes, designer jeans and liquor.
Report Post »iatoala
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 9:06amWidescreen Tv’s, PS3′s and Ipods
Report Post »VagyokC4
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 11:56amAm I the only one here who feels like it’s 1941 all over again, this time it is with the child of Hitler (IRAN in farsi translates to Arian, and before Hitler renamed it, it was Persia) and it has now gone nuclear…
Report Post »sawgunner1
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 1:16pmLike Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeatedly stating his goal is the complete destruction of Israel, Adolph Hitler hated the British and wanted to destroy them as well. If a known murderer tells you he is going to come to your house and kill your family do you just say: “Well, he’s just saying that” and do nothing? No. You load your weapon and if he steps foot in your house you take him out.
Report Post »nicholjm
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 12:36pm@sawgunner1
Report Post »Actually Hitler did hate the English, in fact he often expressed that he regretted having to make war against them. He did hate the Russians and the French. Obviosuly later in the war Hitler’s tone towards the British changed considerably!
2pages
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 11:39amOur country‘s enemies don’t have to fly over and drop bombs, they are already here. They bomb us in our universities, in the unions, in the government that no longer represents us and in demagoguery of our religious foundations. Hopefully people are beginning to wake up and making a conscious decision regarding their buy-in of the transitions taking place or becoming convinced that these changes must be opposed. I’m for moving back where we came from..it was a lot better.
Report Post »nicholjm
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 12:34pmUnmmmmm, huh?
Report Post »rreksNEOFREEDOM
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 11:29am“EVIL then was defeated as will the EVIL of today with the POWER OF ALMIGHTY GOD.”(period)
Our Father who art in HEAVEN hallowed be thine name …
AMEN.
Report Post »larryz
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 11:29amInteresting find, and to anyone who was there it would bring back even more vivid recollections like the smoldering ruins with the rank smell of burning woods, plastics and fuel oils which is only eclipse by the decaying smell of the dead animals and humans still in the rubble form previous bombings. It permeates the cloths and hair so deep that even after washing you end up getting rid of the stench by burning your cloths and cutting your hair and even then it sticks in your nose, mouth, and mind ready to assault you with the littlest of provocations rewarding you with flash backs of a blacker time.
Report Post »E. Zach Lee-Wright
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 6:53pmActually you get used to odors in about 15 minutes but the odor memory effect is very strong and a hint of certain odors from your past can trigger reactions far beyond what most appreciate. We, as individuals don’t understand smells very well. If men understood women on this, all would wear colone.
Report Post »E. Zach Lee-Wright
judy1270
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 11:23amAmazing, My Grandfather was there..!
Report Post »ntt
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 5:13pmSo was my Grandad,
Report Post »He ran for the bomb shelter one night ,as bombs exploded up and down the high street,
He arrived at the shelter carrying a huge wedgwood tea pot. he couldn’t remember where it came from,or even picking it up.Subsequent inquiries by the air raid wardens couldn’t find any claimants so we still use it to this day.
MARCWELBY
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 11:22amI am grateful we never had to deal with something like this in America. Oh wait, the WTC times two, Oklahoma City and Obama’s election????
Report Post »loveamerica
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 3:08pmThank you Marc I, like you, fear that the attacks on those fateful days are not going to be the last. I base this opinon on the fact that our defenses are being reduced as if they were common budget items. We must remember all of the things that were said and done over the last twenty months come Nov. 2nd.
Report Post »Pierce
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 11:16amWhether it’s 1941 or 2001 the face of evil still looks the same. It‘s a shame that there are still those who either can’t see it or just don’t want to see it.
Report Post »martha316
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 3:03pmSo, is 70 yrs enough time past that a Nazi cultural center would be welcome? I think not!
Report Post »cheezwizshabaz
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 11:10amWe must never forget! We lost my Uncle LeRoy in WW2.
Report Post »Ohio Marian
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 12:20pmWe lost My Uncle Roy in WW 2, not in England.
Report Post »davejag
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 11:05amIt looks like modern-day Detroit.
J BARNEY
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 11:57amHow true…
Report Post »ALANH
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 1:26pmHow sad! My growing-up years in Detroit (1938-1957) were OUTSTANDING. My neighborhoods and schools were wonderful.
Report Post »floydjr
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 1:38pmNo this is cleaner then detroit!
cantdrive55
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 1:50pmDaveJag – and others who feel the need to bash on Detroit – although I’m fairly certain you have rarely – if ever – been to Detroit, I can say with certainty that like most cities, it has areas that are wonderful and those that are not. Although I appreciate most peoples view – and perhaps yours – is thru the lens of the MSM, perhaps given the inclusive nature of Mr. Beck’s site you could be a bit more open minded about a city that has some truly great people and places than just making some narrow minded observation about someplace you likely have never been. But, in the words of Dennis Miller, “that’s just my opinion – and i could be wrong…”
Report Post »Autonomous_System
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 3:06pmI live in Detroit. Yes, it is a Democratic / Union created slum. You can buy houses in quantities of 10 for $30,000.
Report Post »paulinehillyeovilsomerset
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 3:26pmMy parents and sister left London right before the blitz, they went down to Somerset, where I was born, we lived very close to an aircraft factory that was a target for the Germans. Nothing will ever erase the memories of the nights we spent in bomb shelters, not knowing if we still had a home after the bombs had been dropped. Detroit has nothing to compare with this. What England went through was devastating to the people and the country.
tlenker
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 3:57pmI’ve been to downtown Detroit. I’ve never seen a skyscraper boarded up before. It is a result of many years of progressive/corrupt governance.
Report Post »adifftake
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 4:39pmThe difference Davejag is, what you are seeing is real. People were injured and some may have been killed. This is the result of a knucklheaded fool getting it in his mind he wanted to rule others. Never works though. We always fight back.
Report Post »Just remember folks: resist those who would play on our differences, however slight or in what category, be it politics, race or something else. Divided we fall and those who would lord it over us know this and are using it daily to drive us apart.
We as a people must REFUSE to be divided!
panola64
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 4:43amDetroit has been run by democrats since the early 60s. Today it lies in virtual ruins.
Report Post »mabinogoin
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 12:55pmDave you are not funny! Detroit has it’s problems but fortunately the state is waking up to the real cause of their unfortunate near fall. Detroit is one of the most natural locations to be a great city again…& she will Dave.
Report Post »satanicmechanic
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 3:14pmI think the Detroit residents are a bit more sensitive. I know, lets say it looks like future Chicago or modern day Memphis. (Both places i have lived and called home.)
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