Chelsea in the Blitz

Join Dr Emily Mayhew for a walking tour that will reveal the devastating impact of the Blitz on Chelsea’s people and places.

Over 80 years ago, London faced nights of continuous bombardment by the German Luftwaffe in what has come to be known as the Blitz. On this hour-long tour, Dr Emily Mayhew tells us the story of Chelsea during these troubled times.

Chelsea was the target of multiple bombing raids from both V1 and V2 rockets right up to the end of the Second World War in 1945. In this tour, we will see some of the sites of the most devastating raids, including Turk’s Row, where a V1 rocket killed scores of US servicemen and women in 1944. This remains the single highest loss of life of US personnel on the UK mainland.

We will also visit the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which sustained extensive bomb damage throughout the war, and hear about the residents of Chelsea who were on the front line.

The tour starts at the National Army Museum.

About Emily Mayhew

Dr Emily Mayhew is a military medical historian specialising in the study of severe casualty, its infliction, treatment and long-term outcomes in 20th- and 21st-century warfare.