| During the morning, Queen Elizabeth (August 4, 1900 – March 30, 2002) visits the Women’s Voluntary Services (WVS) at its founding branch on Tothill Street. By the time of the Blitz, women in the WVS were adept at providing food and drink around the clock. While ARP wardens and firemen fought the fires, women in the WVS set up mobile canteens to keep them refreshed, thus placing themselves in serious physical danger with collapsing buildings a constant threat. When a raid ended, the WVS also played a part in looking after the injured and those who had lost their homes. Records indicate that the WVS dealt with and helped over 10,000 people every night of the Blitz. The Blitz lasted for 57 nights, and the WVS helped a great many people who went to their rest centres. Some people stayed for a night; many stayed for much longer and stretched the resources of the WVS to the limit. In Barnes, 1 WVS member fed 1,200 bomb victims in just 1 day, cooking in her own kitchen. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the work done by the WVS during the Blitz: the rest centres provided shelter, food, and importantly, sanitation. But working so near to the centre of the bombing inevitably led to casualties. 241 members of the WVS were killed during the Blitz and many more were wounded. 25 WVS offices were destroyed. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0310.jpg |
| Image Size | 272.36 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2000 x 1485 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 13, 1939 |
| Location | |
| City | London |
| State or Province | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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