Wartime Britain

What was life like in Britain during the Second World War (1939–45)? Here we explore rationing, evacuation measures, the Blitz, crime, and the role of women

Four young members of the largest group of Kindertransport refugees arrive at Southampton, England, in March 1939. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

Remembering the Kindertransport

The Ghent Altarpiece. (Image by Getty Images)

Second World War

Who were the real monuments men of the Second World War?

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British prime minister Winston Churchill delivering a speech at Westminster College that addressed the Communist threat in 1946, in which he uttered the now-famous phrase 'Iron Curtain'. (Photo by George Skadding/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Second World War

Churchill’s greatest speeches

Members of the Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill LNER (London and North Eastern Railway) LDV (Local Defence Volunteers) dressed in their civilian clothes march along a platform passing a steam locomotive on 1 July 1940 in London. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

The Dad’s Army guide to defending Britain

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Alan M Turing and colleagues working on the Ferranti Mark I Computer, 1951.

Second World War

The Library Alan Turing: The man, the enigma

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Winston Churchill making the famed ‘V’ for Victory sign. (Image by Bettmann/Getty Images)

Second World War

9 things you (probably) didn’t know about Winston Churchill

Expelled Germans leaving Poland's western territories

Second World War

After VE Day: The war without an end

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An archive photo of the Bevin Boys. The name was given to the conscripted workforce that provided Britain with coal during the Second World War. (Courtesy of Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland)

Second World War

5 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Bevin Boys

Actress Lily James and actor Michael Huisman looking at each other in a still from the film The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Second World War

Life under Nazi rule: the occupation of the Channel Islands

Norsk Hydro's Vermork plant

Second World War

The Special Operations Executive: Churchill’s secret army

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Krystyna Skarbeck, also called Christine Granville

Second World War

My history hero: Krystyna Skarbek

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Contrasting biographies of iconic leader Winston Churchill show how perceptions of historical figures change with the passing of time, says David Cannadine. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

Why Churchill’s reputation is still on the line

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The postwar world podcast

Second World War

The postwar world

Members of the Home Guard train racing pigeons as messengers in Blackburn, July 1940. Soon, carrier birds like this would be supplying vital intelligence on German arms factories and troop movements in occupied Europe. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

The pigeons’ war on Hitler

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