Special Collections
World War 2
Description: books and accessible images to support themed learning about World War 2.
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World War II
by Robert FowkeDid you know that Adolf Hilter wasn't, in fact, German?The Second World War brought horror and heartache to millions of people all over the globe, and it turned everyday living upside down too. Any history book will give you the boring facts THEY think you should know, but only this one will tell you what life during World War II was REALLY like ...
World War II bombed street (large print)
by RnibThis page shows an image of bomb damaged houses surrounded by an image border. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. There are three terraced houses and an old fashioned lamp post. The house in the middle is nearly completely destroyed. Only part of a window with broken glass remains to the left of the open doorway. The lamp post is in front of this house and leans precariously to the left. The house on the left is only damaged upstairs. Some of the roof slates have been blown off exposing some of the roof timber. Some of the wall to the room above the front door is missing. The house on the right is damaged upstairs and downstairs. Lots of the roof slates have been blown off also exposing some of the roof timber. The left upstairs window is half missing with broken glass. Most of this room is missing. The downstairs room is half missing. Its window is intact although the glass is cracked. To the right the front door and the window above are not damaged.
World War II bombed street (UEB contracted)
by RnibThis page shows an image of bomb damaged houses surrounded by an image border. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. There are three terraced houses and an old fashioned lamp post. The house in the middle is nearly completely destroyed. Only part of a window with broken glass remains to the left of the open doorway. The lamp post is in front of this house and leans precariously to the left. The house on the left is only damaged upstairs. Some of the roof slates have been blown off exposing some of the roof timber. Some of the wall to the room above the front door is missing. The house on the right is damaged upstairs and downstairs. Lots of the roof slates have been blown off also exposing some of the roof timber. The left upstairs window is half missing with broken glass. Most of this room is missing. The downstairs room is half missing. Its window is intact although the glass is cracked. To the right the front door and the window above are not damaged.
World War II bombed street (UEB uncontracted)
by RnibThis page shows an image of bomb damaged houses surrounded by an image border. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. There are three terraced houses and an old fashioned lamp post. The house in the middle is nearly completely destroyed. Only part of a window with broken glass remains to the left of the open doorway. The lamp post is in front of this house and leans precariously to the left. The house on the left is only damaged upstairs. Some of the roof slates have been blown off exposing some of the roof timber. Some of the wall to the room above the front door is missing. The house on the right is damaged upstairs and downstairs. Lots of the roof slates have been blown off also exposing some of the roof timber. The left upstairs window is half missing with broken glass. Most of this room is missing. The downstairs room is half missing. Its window is intact although the glass is cracked. To the right the front door and the window above are not damaged.
World War II bren gun (large print)
by RnibThis is an image of a side view of a machine gun facing to the left. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The muzzle is in the left of the page with the foresight sticking up from the barrel. The gun barrel goes right to the centre of the page. Just left of centre is a handle, it sticks up and right, the actual handle is nearly horizontal. To the right of this is a wide curved shape, also sticking up. This is the magazine full of bullets. The last thing sticking up on the right before the wooden butt is the back sight. Down and left from the butt on the right of the page is another wooden handle. To the left of it is an oval trigger guard and the trigger. On the left is a rod which goes down to the bottom left of the page. This is a rest stand to stabilise the gun when it is being fired. It can fold up to the right when the gun is being carried.
World War II bren gun (UEB contracted)
by RnibThis is an image of a side view of a machine gun facing to the left. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The muzzle is in the left of the page with the foresight sticking up from the barrel. The gun barrel goes right to the centre of the page. Just left of centre is a handle, it sticks up and right, the actual handle is nearly horizontal. To the right of this is a wide curved shape, also sticking up. This is the magazine full of bullets. The last thing sticking up on the right before the wooden butt is the back sight. Down and left from the butt on the right of the page is another wooden handle. To the left of it is an oval trigger guard and the trigger. On the left is a rod which goes down to the bottom left of the page. This is a rest stand to stabilise the gun when it is being fired. It can fold up to the right when the gun is being carried.
World War II bren gun (UEB uncontracted)
by RnibThis is an image of a side view of a machine gun facing to the left. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The muzzle is in the left of the page with the foresight sticking up from the barrel. The gun barrel goes right to the centre of the page. Just left of centre is a handle, it sticks up and right, the actual handle is nearly horizontal. To the right of this is a wide curved shape, also sticking up. This is the magazine full of bullets. The last thing sticking up on the right before the wooden butt is the back sight. Down and left from the butt on the right of the page is another wooden handle. To the left of it is an oval trigger guard and the trigger. On the left is a rod which goes down to the bottom left of the page. This is a rest stand to stabilise the gun when it is being fired. It can fold up to the right when the gun is being carried.
World War II British foot soldier (large print)
by RnibThis page shows an image of a soldier. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The man is shown standing facing forwards so both arms, legs, eyes and ears can be found. He wears a brown uniform. He has a metal dish-shaped helmet on his head. His tunic jacket has two breast pockets with the flaps and buttons showing. To the left and right of his neck is the top of his haversack showing, which is on his back. There is a canvas strap going from each shoulder to his waist and canvas belt. There are two large canvas pouches attached to the belt. His arm is straight and held down on the right. The arm on the left it is slightly bent and holds a rifle which is also resting on the ground. He wears trousers to just above the ankle. There is a large pocket on his hip to the left and a large pocket on his thigh to the right which also has a flap and button. His ankles are covered by cuffs. He has heavy black leather boots on his feet.
World War II British foot soldier (UEB uncontracted)
by RnibThis page shows an image of a soldier. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The man is shown standing facing forwards so both arms, legs, eyes and ears can be found. He wears a brown uniform. He has a metal dish-shaped helmet on his head. His tunic jacket has two breast pockets with the flaps and buttons showing. To the left and right of his neck is the top of his haversack showing, which is on his back. There is a canvas strap going from each shoulder to his waist and canvas belt. There are two large canvas pouches attached to the belt. His arm is straight and held down on the right. The arm on the left it is slightly bent and holds a rifle which is also resting on the ground. He wears trousers to just above the ankle. There is a large pocket on his hip to the left and a large pocket on his thigh to the right which also has a flap and button. His ankles are covered by cuffs. He has heavy black leather boots on his feet.
World War II evacuee children (large print)
by RnibThis page shows an image of three small children. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The children are shown standing facing forwards so both their arms, legs, eyes and ears can be found. There is a girl on the left, a boy in the middle and a smaller girl on the right. They each wear a luggage label which says their name and where they are being evacuated to. The girl on the left wears a short orange coat and a pink bonnet. She has a white box containing her gas mask hanging on a string around her neck. She has short pale grey socks and red sandals. The boy in the middle wears a brown cap and a very short grey coat. He has long grey socks which are wrinkled as they are falling down. He wears brown shoes and his gas mask box is on the ground to the left of them and rhere is a suitcase ti the right of them. The girl on the right wears a light purple coat to below her knees. On her head she has a small brown hat. She also has a white box containing her gas mask hanging on a string around her neck. She wears short pale grey socks and brown shoes.
World War II evacuee children (UEB contracted)
by RnibThis page shows an image of three small children. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The children are shown standing facing forwards so both their arms, legs, eyes and ears can be found. There is a girl on the left, a boy in the middle and a smaller girl on the right. They each wear a luggage label which says their name and where they are being evacuated to. The girl on the left wears a short orange coat and a pink bonnet. She has a white box containing her gas mask hanging on a string around her neck. She has short pale grey socks and red sandals. The boy in the middle wears a brown cap and a very short grey coat. He has long grey socks which are wrinkled as they are falling down. He wears brown shoes and his gas mask box is on the ground to the left of them and rhere is a suitcase ti the right of them. The girl on the right wears a light purple coat to below her knees. On her head she has a small brown hat. She also has a white box containing her gas mask hanging on a string around her neck. She wears short pale grey socks and brown shoes.
World War II evacuee children (UEB uncontracted)
by RnibThis page shows an image of three small children. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The children are shown standing facing forwards so both their arms, legs, eyes and ears can be found. There is a girl on the left, a boy in the middle and a smaller girl on the right. They each wear a luggage label which says their name and where they are being evacuated to. The girl on the left wears a short orange coat and a pink bonnet. She has a white box containing her gas mask hanging on a string around her neck. She has short pale grey socks and red sandals. The boy in the middle wears a brown cap and a very short grey coat. He has long grey socks which are wrinkled as they are falling down. He wears brown shoes and his gas mask box is on the ground to the left of them and rhere is a suitcase ti the right of them. The girl on the right wears a light purple coat to below her knees. On her head she has a small brown hat. She also has a white box containing her gas mask hanging on a string around her neck. She wears short pale grey socks and brown shoes.
World War II field gun (large print)
by RnibThis is an image of a side view of a large gun facing to the left and some of the shells it could fire. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The muzzle is in the top left of the page and the gun barrel slopes down to the right. Halfway down it goes through a protective shield shown edge on. The breech is shown as a rectangle at the end of the barrel, where a shell would be loaded. Down from the breech is a circular handle which is used to change the angle of the barrel so the correct range is found. Down and to the left of the handle is one of the large wheels needed to move the gun from one battle to another. It has very knobbly tyres. It is attached to the gun carriage which is up and right from the wheel. The end of the carriage on the right is where the gun is hooked onto the vehicle to tow it. There are five shells standing vertically to the left of the gun and one, lying on its side, pointing to the right under the carriage to the right.
World War II field gun (UEB contracted)
by RnibThis is an image of a side view of a large gun facing to the left and some of the shells it could fire. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The muzzle is in the top left of the page and the gun barrel slopes down to the right. Halfway down it goes through a protective shield shown edge on. The breech is shown as a rectangle at the end of the barrel, where a shell would be loaded. Down from the breech is a circular handle which is used to change the angle of the barrel so the correct range is found. Down and to the left of the handle is one of the large wheels needed to move the gun from one battle to another. It has very knobbly tyres. It is attached to the gun carriage which is up and right from the wheel. The end of the carriage on the right is where the gun is hooked onto the vehicle to tow it. There are five shells standing vertically to the left of the gun and one, lying on its side, pointing to the right under the carriage to the right.
World War II field gun (UEB uncontracted)
by RnibThis is an image of a side view of a large gun facing to the left and some of the shells it could fire. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The muzzle is in the top left of the page and the gun barrel slopes down to the right. Halfway down it goes through a protective shield shown edge on. The breech is shown as a rectangle at the end of the barrel, where a shell would be loaded. Down from the breech is a circular handle which is used to change the angle of the barrel so the correct range is found. Down and to the left of the handle is one of the large wheels needed to move the gun from one battle to another. It has very knobbly tyres. It is attached to the gun carriage which is up and right from the wheel. The end of the carriage on the right is where the gun is hooked onto the vehicle to tow it. There are five shells standing vertically to the left of the gun and one, lying on its side, pointing to the right under the carriage to the right.
World War II gas mask (large print)
by RnibThis page shows an image of a man wearing a gas mask. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. Only his head and shoulders are shown facing forwards, surrounded by an image border. Some of his brown hair is shown at the top of the image. There are two gas mask straps going over the top of his head. His face is hidden by the body of the mask. His eyes can be found staring out through the eyepieces. An ear pokes out to the left and right. The gas mask filter hangs down from where his nose and mouth would be. The round end with small holes in and the some of the side is shown. It is like a wide round can. He wears a brown open necked shirt with one button showing.
World War II gas mask (UEB uncontracted)
by RnibThis page shows an image of a man wearing a gas mask. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. Only his head and shoulders are shown facing forwards, surrounded by an image border. Some of his brown hair is shown at the top of the image. There are two gas mask straps going over the top of his head. His face is hidden by the body of the mask. His eyes can be found staring out through the eyepieces. An ear pokes out to the left and right. The gas mask filter hangs down from where his nose and mouth would be. The round end with small holes in and the some of the side is shown. It is like a wide round can. He wears a brown open necked shirt with one button showing.
World War II gas mask (UEB uncontracted)
by RnibThis page shows an image of a man wearing a gas mask. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. Only his head and shoulders are shown facing forwards, surrounded by an image border. Some of his brown hair is shown at the top of the image. There are two gas mask straps going over the top of his head. His face is hidden by the body of the mask. His eyes can be found staring out through the eyepieces. An ear pokes out to the left and right. The gas mask filter hangs down from where his nose and mouth would be. The round end with small holes in and the some of the side is shown. It is like a wide round can. He wears a brown open necked shirt with one button showing.
World War II German doodlebug (large print)
by RnibThis page shows two images of the flying bomb, the V1 nicknamed doodlebug. At the top of the page seen from the side and in the bottom and middle of the page a plan view seen from above. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. Both views have the front on the left and the tail on the right of the page. In the top side view the body of the flying bomb is fatter on the left than the right. It is very streamlined. Halfway along the body the end of the wing can be found. It is angled up slightly to give the bomb lift when it flies. The pulse jet engine on the right is mounted onto the top of the bomb by two brackets. The end of the engine on the left is for air intake and the end on the right is the exhaust thrust. In the plan view image in the bottom and middle of the page the body of the bomb goes from left to right in the centre of the image. The wings go up and down the page from the body. On each wing there is a German cross indicating the bomb belongs to the Luftwaffe. The upper surface is green although sometimes camouflage colours were used so it was difficult to spot from the air. The underneath colour is a pale sky colour so it would be difficult to spot from the ground when flying.
World War II German doodlebug (UEB contracted)
by RnibThis page shows two images of the flying bomb, the V1 nicknamed doodlebug. At the top of the page seen from the side and in the bottom and middle of the page a plan view seen from above. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. Both views have the front on the left and the tail on the right of the page. In the top side view the body of the flying bomb is fatter on the left than the right. It is very streamlined. Halfway along the body the end of the wing can be found. It is angled up slightly to give the bomb lift when it flies. The pulse jet engine on the right is mounted onto the top of the bomb by two brackets. The end of the engine on the left is for air intake and the end on the right is the exhaust thrust. In the plan view image in the bottom and middle of the page the body of the bomb goes from left to right in the centre of the image. The wings go up and down the page from the body. On each wing there is a German cross indicating the bomb belongs to the Luftwaffe. The upper surface is green although sometimes camouflage colours were used so it was difficult to spot from the air. The underneath colour is a pale sky colour so it would be difficult to spot from the ground when flying.
World War II German doodlebug (UEB uncontracted)
by RnibThis page shows two images of the flying bomb, the V1 nicknamed doodlebug. At the top of the page seen from the side and in the bottom and middle of the page a plan view seen from above. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. Both views have the front on the left and the tail on the right of the page. In the top side view the body of the flying bomb is fatter on the left than the right. It is very streamlined. Halfway along the body the end of the wing can be found. It is angled up slightly to give the bomb lift when it flies. The pulse jet engine on the right is mounted onto the top of the bomb by two brackets. The end of the engine on the left is for air intake and the end on the right is the exhaust thrust. In the plan view image in the bottom and middle of the page the body of the bomb goes from left to right in the centre of the image. The wings go up and down the page from the body. On each wing there is a German cross indicating the bomb belongs to the Luftwaffe. The upper surface is green although sometimes camouflage colours were used so it was difficult to spot from the air. The underneath colour is a pale sky colour so it would be difficult to spot from the ground when flying.
World War II German foot soldier (large print)
by RnibThis page shows an image of a soldier. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The man is shown standing, from the front but with the head turned to the left so both arms and legs but only one eye and ear can be found. He wears a grey coloured uniform. He has a metal helmet on his head. His jacket has the flaps with buttons to two breast and two waist pockets showing. There is a decorative motive on each collar flap. Up from the breast pocket on the left there is the German military badge which is made from a bird and a swastika. There is a leather strap going from the shoulder on the left to the waist on the right. He has a leather belt with four leather pouches on it. His arms are straight and held out to the left and right. He wears trousers to just below the knee. He has long black leather boots on his feet.
World War II German foot soldier (UEB uncontracted)
by RnibThis page shows an image of a soldier. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The man is shown standing, from the front but with the head turned to the left so both arms and legs but only one eye and ear can be found. He wears a grey coloured uniform. He has a metal helmet on his head. His jacket has the flaps with buttons to two breast and two waist pockets showing. There is a decorative motive on each collar flap. Up from the breast pocket on the left there is the German military badge which is made from a bird and a swastika. There is a leather strap going from the shoulder on the left to the waist on the right. He has a leather belt with four leather pouches on it. His arms are straight and held out to the left and right. He wears trousers to just below the knee. He has long black leather boots on his feet.
World War II in Britain
by Liz Gogerly'The past is all around us, if we know where to look.' This series takes a look at archaeological, structural and museum evidence from around Britain, allowing readers to build up a picture of what life was like in key historical periods and how you can discover it for yourself by visiting sites around the country.
World War II Japanese foot soldier (large print)
by RnibThis page shows an image of a soldier. There is a locator dot shown, which will be at the top left of the page when the image is the correct way up. The man is shown standing, from the front but with the head turned to the left so both arms and legs but only one eye and ear can be found. He wears a sand coloured uniform. He has a peaked cloth cap with a leather headband to the front. At the back there is a cloth flap to protect his neck from the sun. His jacket has the flaps with buttons to two breast pockets showing. There is a leather strap going from the shoulder on the left to the waist on the right and another going from the shoulder on the right to the waist on the left. He has a leather belt with a sword and sheath attached. Only the handle and top part of the sheath is shown. His arms are straight and held out to the left and right. He wears baggy breeches to just below the knee. The lower legs are wrapped with cloth which is held in place with straps. He has lightweight boots on his feet.