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The Ill-prepared City: Portsmouth Before the Blitz...

The Ill-prepared City: Portsmouth Before the Blitz Talk at Portsmouth City Museum

In November 1918, the Great War came to an end. There were lessons to be learnt in not just how to fight a war but how to defend the civilians of the home front. What were these lessons and how well were they learnt in Portsmouth? These are the questions that will be explored during The Ill-prepared City: Portsmouth Before the Blitz, a talk at Portsmouth City Museum. When Britain declared war on Nazi Germany in 1939, it did not come as a surprise. Hitler’s remilitarization and repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles sounded a warning bell for what was to follow. In this talk, Philip examines what steps in preparing Portsmouth and its residents for the inevitable war what lessons had been learnt from the previous. Focussing on civil defence, the fire services and failed evacuation plans, he will reveal a shocking story of lost opportunity and incompetence.

This talk is one of a series D-Day related talks held in Portsmouth over the next few months, you can see all the others HERE.

The talk is on the 20th of September from 2pm to 3pm. Tickets are only £5/£4 concessions (Leisure Card holders, 60+) and tickets must be booked in advance. To book please contact MuseumsGeneralOffice@Portsmouthcc.gov.uk or call 02392 834779 or 02392 834744.

Handout photo of U.S. troops wading ashore from a Coast Guard landing craft at Omaha Beach during the Normandy D-Day landings near Vierville sur Mer

U.S. troops wade ashore from a Coast Guard landing craft at Omaha Beach during the Normandy D-Day landings near Vierville sur Mer, France, on June 6, 1944 in this handout photo provided by the US National Archives. On June 6, 1944, allied soldiers descended on the beaches of Normandy for D-Day – an operation that turned the tide of the Second World War against the Nazis, marking the beginning of the end of the conflict. Today, as many around the world prepare to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the landings, pictures of Normandy’s now-touristy beaches stand in stark contrast to images taken around the time of the invasion. But while the landscape has changed, the memory of the momentous event lives on. Reuters photographer Chris Helgren compiled a series of archive pictures taken during the 1944 invasion and then went back to the same places, to photograph them as they appear today. Picture taken June 6, 1944. REUTERS/Robert F. Sargent/US National Archives/Handout via Reuters (FRANCE – Tags: ANNIVERSARY MILITARY CONFLICT) ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 05 OF 34 FOR PACKAGE ‘WWII – THE D-DAY LANDINGS, 70 YEARS ON’
TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH ‘D-DAY HELGREN’


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