Who, What, Where, When and How: Unlocking London’s bomb damage records

Join Andrew Lott from The London Archives (TLA) to learn more about the London County Council (LCC) World War II Fire Reports.

Britain undoubtedly has a fascination with World War II and in London that tends to centre on the Blitz. The war is a subject everyone studies in school. Every year new books and podcasts are produced on the subject and the collections of The London Archives (TLA) are packed full of documents about it. Most famously these include the bomb damage maps of the London County Council (LCC) which show the damage inflicted on the capital in a series of colour coded maps. However less well known, are the series of LCC Air Raid Fire Reports and it’s within this previously impenetrable series, that the really juicy information is to be found.

Senior Archives Officer Andrew Lott has worked in the public rooms at TLA for over 20 years and quickly realised that although people might know that their family had been bombed out during the war, what they really wanted to know was when and how it had happened. Up until now, this was not something that people had been able to discover quickly or easily.

Join Andrew as he guides you through his fifteen year (so far) project indexing the 65 chronological volumes of the LCC Fire reports, looking at what information is recorded, the areas covered, the potential uses and limitations as well as his future plans, as he nears the end of his original target. Added bonus opportunity to search the index yourself at the end of the evening.

Date and Time: Wednesday 28th January, 18:00-19:00

Doors open at 17:30 and close at 19:25.

Location: Huntley Room at The London Archives