36 Photos Of The Blitz That Captures The Enduring Spirit Of The British

These unbelievable photos show the United Kingdom keeping calm and carrying on through the dark days of the Blitz of World War II.

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A milkman makes his deliveries through the ruins of the city.

London. October 9, 1940.Fred Morley/Getty Images

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In the aftermath of a bombing, smoke billows up behind the River Thames.

London. September 7, 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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A group of children sit on the rubble of what was once their home.

London. September 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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Workers at the National Archives take a break from dodging bombs to play cricket while wearing gas masks.

London. Circa 1940-1941.Wikimedia Commons

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Men browse the books among the ruins of the Holland House library shortly after it was destroyed by a bombing.

London. October 23, 1940.Central Press/Getty Images

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Two children make their way into a bomb shelter. The boy is carrying a box with a gas mask inside.

London. Circa June or August 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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City life carries on in the ruins of London.

Circa 1940-1941.Wikimedia Commons

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Children sit in front of a bomb shelter and try on new shoes donated by an American charity.

London. 1941.Wikimedia Commons

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Children search for their books amid the ruins of their school.

Coventry. April 10, 1941.Wikimedia Commons

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Two women smile happily as they scavenge what they can from the debris of their homes.

London. 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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A young boy sits in the ruins of his home with a stuffed animal on his lap.

London. Circa 1940-1945.Wikimedia Commons

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Volunteers pour tea in an air raid shelter under a church.

London. 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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Winston Churchill walks through the ruins of Coventry Cathedral.

September 28, 1941.Wikimedia Commons

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A large family huddles together under a single blanket.

London. Circa 1940-1945.Wikimedia Commons

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The wrecked shell of a bus shows what would've happened to anyone who stayed above ground through the bombings.

Coventry. November 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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Inside the London subway system, which has been converted into an air raid shelter.

London. 1940-1941.Wikimedia Commons

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A tight squeeze of bunk beds inside of a bomb shelter.

London. 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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Londoners rest on the tracks of the subway system, waiting out another bombing.

London. 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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A man in a bomb shelter hidden under a church plays piano to keep people's spirits high.

London. 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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Civilians in a bomb shelter knit and read the paper to pass the time while their homes are destroyed by German bombs.

London. November 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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Underneath railway arches, Londoners waiting out a bombing raid settle into their makeshift mattresses and get ready for a long night.

London. November 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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Firefighters struggle to put out the blazes left in the wake of a bombing.

London. 1941.Wikimedia Commons

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The people of London make their way back above ground and go about their days, passing through the devastated ruins of their city.

London. Circa 1940-1941.Wikimedia Commons

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Civilians watch calmly as the British Army runs a practice exercise for shooting down attacking bombers.

London. August 1939.Wikimedia Commons

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A line of bunk beds sit in the London subway system.

London. Circa 1940-1945.Wikimedia Commons

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A woman cooks a meal inside of the London subway system, waiting for the bombings to end.

November 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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A young woman puts on the gramophone, letting a little music drown out the sounds of the falling bombs.

London. 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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A restaurant stays open through the bombings by selling food in the basement.

London. 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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Nurses in an air raid shelter give a woman first aid care.

London. 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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A group of women knit and chat their way through the bombings while a man sets up a clock to add a little color to the dreary white of the bomb shelter.

London. 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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A shop stays open, treating their destroyed walls as nothing but a small hiccup in everyday business.

London. Circa 1940-1945.Wikimedia Commons

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Underground, a woman fills up a kettle for tea.

London. 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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Boys in a basement shelter play a game of cards to pass the time.

London. 1940.Wikimedia Commons

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A young girl stands in the ruins of her home, the Union Jack waving above her head.

London. January 1945.Wikimedia Commons

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A Mother's Day service, held in the broken hull of Coventry Cathedral.

May 13, 1945Wikimedia Commons

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A family sits outside of their ruined home while the men behind them sift through the rubble.

London. Circa 1940-1941.Wikimedia Commons

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36 Photos Of The Blitz That Captures The Enduring Spirit Of The British

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For eight long months between September 1940 and May 1941, the people of Britain lived under a hail of bombs.

It was called the Blitz: a constant, unceasing bombardment of British cities by Nazi planes. It was Adolf Hitler and Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring's attempt to force the United Kingdom's exit from World War II — not just by killing soldiers, but by teaching civilians to live in constant terror.

During the worst stretch of the Blitz, bombs rained down on London for 56 out of 57 days. There was nothing more than a single day of calm to break up the constant devastation of explosions that left people homeless and children orphaned.

For the people who lived through it all, it was a struggle to survive – not just in body, but in mind. By the end of the bombing campaign, at least 40,000 British civilians were left dead while in London alone, one million homes were destroyed.

The British government's great fear wasn't just that their people would be killed, it was that they would panic. They feared that the Blitz would make the people lose hope and give up.

"[Hitler] hopes, by killing large numbers of civilians, and women and children, that he will terrorize and cow the people of this mighty imperial city," British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's booming voice told the people over the radio. "Little does he know the spirit of the British nation."

Winston Churchill tours Coventry Cathedral after it was bombed and mostly destroyed during the Coventry Blitz of November 1940.

In response, 4 million were evacuated to the country, while those who stayed behind were set up with bomb shelters in their backyards or ushered underground. The London subway system was converted into a massive bomb shelter and became a new home to hundreds of thousands of people during the Blitz.

The subways became almost like a second, underground London. They were a place where people played cards, joined knitting circles, met with neighbors, and ate their meals while playing music to drown out the sound of the earth overhead shaking under the impact of German bombs.

But despite the constant barrage of bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe, the people of Britain didn't panic. Reportedly, only a couple dozen people out of the millions in the London area ended up "shell-shocked." Many ultimately learned to carry on their lives as if falling bombs were as ordinary as rainfall. As American General Raymond E. Lee, caught in the middle of the Blitz and awestruck by the British people's courage, commented, "These people are staunch to the bone and won't quit."

The photos above, taken during the Blitz, bear out Lee's words. Photos like these started being spread throughout the country in order to keep spirits high as the war raged on, bolstering the British spirit of the men and women who would keep calm and carry on. In the end, the Nazi offensive failed and the United Kingdom remained a bulwark against Hitler's forces — in large part because of the courageous spirit of the British people.

After this look at the Blitz, find out how Britain hit back at the Germans with these intense photographs of the Dresden bombing. Then, see how the Dunkirk evacuation unfolded.