Old Historic Photographs of Bristol, England During World War Two

   

Bristol is a city and county in South West England. The district has the 10th-largest population in England. The city borders North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, with the cities of Bath and Gloucester to the south-east and north-east, respectively.

During World War II, Bristol was heavily damaged by Luftwaffe raids. About 1,300 people living or working in the city were killed and nearly 100,000 buildings were damaged, at least 3,000 beyond repair. The original central market area, near the bridge and castle, is now a park containing two bombed churches and fragments of the castle.
These historic photos that captured street scenes of Bristol during the Second World War.

 
Gas mask drill, 1939

 

 Children and sandbags, 1939

 

Gas masks over the garden fence, 1939

 

A double-decker bus was badly damaged during this raid, Whiteladies Road, December 1940

 

A dentist chair is all that is left of No.2 Dolphin Street, Castle Park, December 1940

 

An unknown Bedminster housewife paints her window with a shatter-proof lacquer because of the danger of flying glass during the 'Blitz', 1940

 

Bristol Evening Post, May 1940

 

Child evacuees, 1940

 

King George VI on a visit to Bristol, 1940

 

Land Army girls replaced men on the farm during the war, 1940

 

Looking towards Mary Le Port and Bridge Streets from top of Baldwin Street near Bristol Bridge, 1940

 

Looking towards the City Centre from College Green before the air raids on Bristol, 1940

 

Metal for munitions, 1940

 

Newspaper vendor, Angel Fountain, High Street, 1940

 

One of the great granaries took a direct hit in the city docks, 1940

 

Smart's store, Union Street, 1940

 

 St James Barton, 1940

 

The Dutch House on the corner of Wine Street and High Street was reduced to a charred skeleton and for safety's sake it had to be pulled down, 1940

 

A dawn scene after a night raid on Union Street, 1941

 

View of the Dutch House, with its statue soldier still on guard before the bombed-out remnants were pulled down, 1941

 

 Air raid wardens pose for the camera at the Crescent, Henleaze, Bristol, 1941

 

Bedminster residents enjoying their Christmas party in an air raid shelter, 1941

 

Bedminster tram depot in West street after an air raid, 1941

 

 Blitz on West Street near Chessel Road, Bedminster, 1941

 

Cheriton Place Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze, 1941

 

Evacuation at Temple Meads station, 1941

 

Families who were bombed out of their homes, 1941

 

"Give us the tools, we will finish the job", July 1941

 

 People lost homes, 1941

 

Peter Street, 1941

 

Sailors help bombed-out Bristolians collect their remaining belongings, 1941

 

 St Francis’, North Street, Ashton, 1941

 

Stafford Street, Bedminster, 1941

 

The Children of Bristol leave their families and homes for Devon and Safety at Temple Meads Railway Station, 1941

 

 Utter devastation in Bristol after a night of air-raids, 1941

 

Victim of the blitz, 1941

 

 View from the still standing Odeon cinema showing the bomb damage in Union Street and the Castle Street area, 1941

 

Water froze in the hosepipes, January 1941

 

Wine Street, 1941

 

Winston Churchill outside the shop of S.W. Pitman at the junction of Raleigh Road and Leighton Road, Southville, 1941

 

A doll's house survived the blitz of Newfoundland Road, 1942

 

A lone figure walks through the ruins of Dolphin Street, 1942

 

 A rescue worker digs deep into the ruins of a house in St Michael's Hill, 1942

 

 A triumphant bomb disposal team with one that failed to go off, 1942

 

After a night of heavy bombing, 1942

 

Air raid wardens at Muller's Orphanage, 1942

 

 Bedminster West Street Baptist, 1942

 

Bomb damage at Bristol Homeopathic Hospital in Cotham, 1942

 

Bomb damage in the City Docks, 1942

 

Bristol blitz victims being fed at an unknown parish hall, 1942

 

Bus conductors, 1942

 

Crowds turn out to watch this military parade march down Park Street towards the City Centre, June 4th, 1942

 

Daylight air raid on Broad Weir, August 28th, 1942

 

Daylight air raid on Broad Weir, August 28th, 1942

 

Holy Trinity Church, Hotwells, 1942

 

Prince's Theatre, Park Row, 1942

 

St Anselm's Church, Clifton Down, Bristol, 1942

 

The burnt out remains of St Peter's Church, Castle Park, circa 1942

 

The mobile greengrocer, 1942

 

The pub might have vanished but there's still time for a pint, 1942

 

The remains of Wine Street after a night of fire and destruction, 1942

 

 Winston Churchill tours bomb-battered Bristol with his wife Clementine, 1942

 

 Women’s voluntary service, 1942

 

A group of US soldiers outside Filton House, 1943

 

An American GI and his Bristol girlfriend are interviewed by a BBC roving reporter, 1943

 

 German planes transported through the street's of Bristol, 1943

 

Unexploded bomb outside 7 Beckington Road, April 14th, 1943

 

Bomb damage buildings on Bristol's St Michael's Hill, 1944

 

 Allington Road, Southville, Bristol on VE Day, May 8th, 1945

 

Temple Meads Railway Station is boarded up after it was damaged in a bombing-raid, 1945

 

The White Funnel paddle steamer Britannia in full camouflage returns to Hotwells, Bristol from war service, May 1945

 

VE Day celebrations in Hill Street, Totterdown, Bristol, May 8th, 1945

 

 Victory tea party in the Muller Road area of Eastville on VE-Day, May 8th, 1945

 

 
Crowds at Temple Meads boarding a London bound train, 1945