By the late 1930s, many people in Britain foresaw a future war with Germany, and aerial attacks on civilian towns and cities to be a terrifying aspect of it.

Public bodies and private individuals therefore built defences in anticipation of air raids.

These structures included private and public air-raid shelters, the transformation of the fledgling civilian aerodrome at Clifton into an R.A.F. base, anti-aircraft batteries, and key administrative and military buildings in the city.

Following a fantastic public response to a call for information in the Press in April 2019, Raids Over York has begun to build up a fascinating survey of different types of private air-raid shelters still standing in the city, and a knowledge of the location of public shelters, many of which are understood still to be in place subterraneanly.

In the coming months and years, as the project develops and we discover more information, and have more excellent insight from members of the public, this page will detail examples of air-raid shelter typologies.

The page will also lead to photos, and other recorded information, concerning more types of physical structures or landmarks built or affected during the war, including aircraft dispersal pens, bomb craters, damaged buildings, and war-related graffiti.

Details of these sites will be added as the Raids Over York project progresses between now and December 2022. Watch this space!

[January 2021: In development below:- Air-Raid Shelters]

Air-Raid Shelters

Bomb Craters

R.A.F. Clifton

WW2 Ephemera

York Cemetery

Administrative & Military Buildings

Anti-Aircraft Structures