Steering London Through

The London Passenger Transport Board had been in existence just over six years when Britain entered into war with Germany. A year before, measures had been put in place to provide trench shelters, first aid points, and the adaptation of pits in garages to become shelters. Over 20,000 male staff were called up during the war, and women joined the ranks to fill the void. 181 members of staff were killed whilst on duty, with over 1800 injured. Heroic work, and the will to ‘get on with it’ was the general way of getting things done, summed up by just one of many examples at Athol Street garage, nearer the end of the war. It was the Board’s most bombed garage, due to the nearby docks, and after a rocket fell at 6am within 100 yards of the premises blowing out the windows of 25 buses, and causing considerable damage, the staff were able to get all of the buses out on time. This book is a chronology, focusing in particular on the behind-the-scenes planning by London Transport, both before the war and during.