War & Weapons
Explore objects, stories and blogs that unravel London’s long history of conflict.
Blogs-And-Stories
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/WagtailSource-Johnny-Smythe-in-h.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
J Smythe: The WWII navigator & his Windrush story
By any measure, Johnny Smythe led an extraordinary life
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/WagtailSource-Portrait-of-Oliver.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
Oliver Cromwell: The man who could have been king
Cromwell’s victories in the Civil Wars took him to the very top
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/WagtailSource-Devastation-City-P.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
Graham Sutherland’s eerie Blitz drawings
This south London-born artist recorded the carnage of the Second World War
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/WagtailSource-VAD-recruitment-po.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
First World War & the British Red Cross: War art with a difference
How artists documented the British Red Cross’ WWI relief efforts through powerful artworks
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/WagtailSource-Havering-Hoard-axe.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
The Havering Hoard
London’s largest ever Bronze Age hoard, bundled up and buried 3,000 years ago
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/wagtailsource-statue-of-queen-bo.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
Boudica: Rebel queen of the Iceni
London burned when this warrior queen challenged the Romans
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/wagtailsource-silk-embroidered-p.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
Embroidered memories: The WWI silk postcard industry
How these hand-embroidered WWI silk postcards are beautiful examples of sentimentality and wartime industry
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How Florence Nightingale shaped London healthcare
Modern nursing has a lot to thank this 19th-century trailblazer for
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/wagtailsource-sainsbury-wartime-.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
Food rationing & wartime trading at Sainsbury’s
From food rationing to setting up emergency shops, here’s how Sainsbury’s operated during First & Second World Wars
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/wagtailsource-photographer.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
The vivid photography of Bill Brandt
An influential photographer whose work spanned documentary images and Surrealist portraits
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/wagtailsource-general-view-of-ex.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
Silvertown 1917: London’s largest explosion
73 people died when an east London factory making TNT caught fire and exploded
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/WagtailSource-Nelson-s-column-Ci.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
Who was Admiral Nelson?
Nelson's naval victories gave him national hero status and a permanent place in Trafalgar Square
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/WagtailSource-Ealontoys-Bow-Bear.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
Suffragette teddy bears: WWI & women’s rights
What’s your favourite object connected to women’s history? One of ours is a Bow Bear
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/wagtailsource-christina-broom-18.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
An introduction to Christina Broom
The pioneering photographer who captured the Suffragettes in action
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/wagtailsource-trajan-s-column-de.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
The Walbrook Skulls: A Roman murder mystery
Did these 39 skulls belong to gladiators?
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/wagtailsource-07-september-1940-.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
London’s Blitz: A city at war
The German bombing campaign which rained down death and destruction on London
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/WagtailSource-Women-in-a-shelter.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
Blitz Underground: How war artists saw tube shelters
Bill Brandt and Henry Moore’s war art during the Blitz offer a poignant view of human resilience amid chaos
![](https://media.londonmuseum.org.uk/images/wagtailsource-portrait-of-mary-s.width-1122.format-webp.webp)
Mary Seacole: Doctress of the Crimean War
The determined businesswoman and caregiver who looked after troops at war