The discovery of an 1,100-pound unexploded German bomb over the weekend shut down London City Airport Sunday and Monday.
Unexploded bombs and grenades continue to be found and removed every year in London, almost eight decades after the London Blitz. Experts were expected to explode the latest bomb—a big one—at the bottom of the Thames on Tuesday.
The incident may have brought back painful memories for anyone who lived through the war. But, in addition to a reminder of the kinds of bombs that were dropped by the Nazis on England, newly published color versions of period photos also brought the history into sharp focus.
A website called Vintage Everyday features several images of London landmarks and residences that were destroyed by the early 1940s German air campaign.
The photos were taken in a film process called Dufaycolor.
“Introduced as cinematic film in 1932 and roll film in 1935, Dufaycolor was based on a four-color screen process developed by French chemist Louis Dufay,” the website explained. “It was one of the last additive color processes to be marketed, consisting of a fine screen of red, green and blue filter lines printed over a film emulsion.”
The photos came to light as Actor Gary Oldman waits to see if he wins a Best Actor Oscar for his role as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.
“We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,” Churchill said in 1940, in one of several rousing and memorable wartime speeches.
Looking at the photos anew, it’s easy to see how Churchill buoyed the spirits of Brits during their darkest hour.
