London and the First World War

Session 3: Communications and Transport

London, public transport, and the First World War
Simon Abernethy
(Cambridge)

The dilemmas of a London railway in wartime: the Metropolitan Railway, 1914-18
Richard Dennis
(University College London)

Between Home and Front during the First World War: women war workers in the streets and railway stations of London
Krisztina Robert
(Roehampton)

As part of events to commemorate the centenary of the First World War, IWM (Imperial War Museums) in partnership with the Centre for Metropolitan History is organising a major conference that will explore the ways in which London and its inhabitants were affected by, and involved with, the 1914-18 conflict. For the first time London was effectively on the front line, subject to aerial bombing and surveillance, whilst its streets, buildings and spaces were shaped by the needs of mass mobilisation, supply and defence. The war had an impact upon everyday life in the capital in other ways too, including the economy, governance, standards of living, culture, leisure, the physical environment and social life.