Surface shelters afforded some protection from bomb blast but as can be seen were no protection from a direct hit.

Many families chose to shelter in Anderson or Morrison shelters, believing them to be safer.

A Flying bomb incident, showing bomb damage to houses and a communal surface shelter, 29 July 1944.

Although V1 flying bombs were intended for Central London, a British govern-ment disinformation campaign led to most of them falling in South London, well short of their targets.

A total of 95 V1s fell in Lambeth killing 250 people and severely injuring a further 709.