| Digging Air raid shelter trenches in a miniature golf course in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London. The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, commonly known as Lincoln’s Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. This view is north towards Lincoln’s Inn Fields, as men dig trenches after the Munich Crisis of September 1938. At Lincoln’s Inn, an old sewer was discovered. Air Raid Precautions (ARP) began in 1935, but preparations for defense were not ordered until September 1938. During the crisis, a great number of squares across the capital were hastily “trenched” at the request of the Home Office to provide shelter for civilians during possible air raids in the event of war being declared. Many of these trenches were placed more or less haphazardly in Every piece of open ground available. By October 1938, trench digging was suspended, but the existing trenches were left in place for a time. The trenches were subsequently abandoned or filled in when war was thought to have been averted, only for some of the best sited of these sites to be re-excavated and made permanent the following spring, under powers conferred by the 1939 Civil Defense Act. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2111.jpg |
| Image Size | 428.65 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2048 x 1365 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 26, 1938 |
| Location | Lincoln’s Inn |
| City | London |
| State or Province | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
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| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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