Air Raid Damage Opposite Selfridges by Olga Lehmann, watercolour, gouache and ink on paper

This illustration is one of several by Olga Lehmann in the Museum’s collection that document Civil Defence activities during the London Blitz (1940–1941).

In this scene, members of the Auxiliary Fire Service and police tend to a bombed building by the Selfridges department store as civilians watch the spectacle. On 17-18 September 1940 Selfridges itself was bombed, in addition to three other department stores. At this time, Lehmann - a painter, illustrator and designer - undertook a mural scheme for the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) headquarters in Camden, for which she designed scenes of public sheltering, ARP personnel and bomb damage. The War Artists’ Advisory Committee purchased two drawings (Imperial War Museums collection). Purchased in 1992. Copyright: the artist's estate / RAF Museum.