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BLITZ SPIRIT

Stunning photos show London being rebuilt five years after the Blitz flattened the capital

A collection of stunning images show workmen salvaging rubble to help rebuild London after it was wiped out during WWII

STUNNING pictures show London being rebuilt just five years after it was flattened by the Blitz of World War Two.

The incredible images show gaping cellars and foundations of many blitzed sites which had not yet been cleared away.

The maze of caves and hideouts form a playground for London children who have no other recreation spaces following WWII
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The maze of caves and hideouts form a playground for London children who have no other recreation spaces following WWIICredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
Churches were restored with the help of stone salvaged from the rubble of other churches. Here the salvaged stone is being carried by two workmen and will be loaded on to a lorry
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Churches were restored with the help of stone salvaged from the rubble of other churches. Here the salvaged stone is being carried by two workmen and will be loaded on to a lorryCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto

Other pictures show beautiful churches that were being restored with the help of stone salvaged from the rubble.

Meanwhile, a refreshing flower garden was also transformed from the debris which was left on the ground.

Another striking shot shows a group of children playing in the foundations of a demolished building.

CRICKET MATCH

And a group of workers can be seen taking part in an unconventional cricket match in the cellar of a bombed out building during lunchtime.

A photographer also captured the moment workmen salvaged rubble of a blitzed church masonry in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral.

The remarkable photographs offer an insight into just how long the rebuilding process took with these images shot in London in 1950, five years after the end of World War Two.

HOUSES DESTROYED

The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against Britain in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War.

The term was first used by the British press and is the German word for “lightning”.

During the Blitz 32,000 civilians were killed and 87,000 were seriously injured and two million houses - of which 60 per cent were in London - were destroyed.

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In one six-month period, 750,000 tons of bombsite rubble from London was transported by railway on 1,700 freight trains to make runways on Bomber Command airfields in East Anglia.

Bombsite rubble from Birmingham was used to make runways on US Air Force bases in Kent and Essex in South East England.

Many sites of bombed buildings, when cleared of rubble, were cultivated to grow vegetables to ease wartime food shortages and were known as victory gardens.

In the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral, workmen are busy salvaging from the rubble of a blitzed church masonry which can be used elsewhere
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In the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral, workmen are busy salvaging from the rubble of a blitzed church masonry which can be used elsewhereCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
Workmen used the rubble to help rebuild churches and other buildings in the city - just yards from St Paul's
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Workmen used the rubble to help rebuild churches and other buildings in the city - just yards from St Paul'sCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
City businessmen remove their black jackets at lunchtime for an unconventional 30-minute cricket match on the cellar floor of a bombed building
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City businessmen remove their black jackets at lunchtime for an unconventional 30-minute cricket match on the cellar floor of a bombed buildingCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
Often among the rubble and the torn, empty houses, is a spectacular garden
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Often among the rubble and the torn, empty houses, is a spectacular gardenCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
A group of dedicated workmen were seen moving salvaged rubble on to the back of a lorry so the restoration project could continue
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A group of dedicated workmen were seen moving salvaged rubble on to the back of a lorry so the restoration project could continueCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
A stone mason is busy at work with his hand tools as a crowd gathers to watch
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A stone mason is busy at work with his hand tools as a crowd gathers to watchCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
Men worked tirelessly to lift stone and rubble to help rebuild churches which had been knocked down
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Men worked tirelessly to lift stone and rubble to help rebuild churches which had been knocked downCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
On Ludgate Hill, beneath St Paul's Cathedral, a firm of landscape gardeners turned a bomb site into a charming garden, with paved walks, goldfish streams, flower beds and shrubs
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On Ludgate Hill, beneath St Paul's Cathedral, a firm of landscape gardeners turned a bomb site into a charming garden, with paved walks, goldfish streams, flower beds and shrubsCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
Two women having a rest beside bomb damaged ruins of demolished buildings
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Two women having a rest beside bomb damaged ruins of demolished buildingsCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
The longest advertisement hoarding in London stands on a bombed site near Piccadilly Circus, with a little flower garden at its foot
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The longest advertisement hoarding in London stands on a bombed site near Piccadilly Circus, with a little flower garden at its footCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
An advertisement where a bomb damaged building once stood
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An advertisement where a bomb damaged building once stoodCredit: Mediadrumimages / TopFoto
WWII bunker in school playground shows graffiti of kids sheltering from Blitz

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