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Since its foundation in 1917 IWM has been building its collections in order to illustrate and record all aspects of conflict in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. We want our collections to continue to engage, challenge and remain relevant to our audiences, and we need to safeguard it for future generations.

IWM's collection covers all aspects of conflict involving Britain, its former Empire and the Commonwealth, from the First World War to the present day. As well as objects, it includes a range of media, from art, film and photographs to printed materials, documents and sound.

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Explore over 1 million items from IWM's collections that tell the story of war and conflict.

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While Germany had surrendered, the continued. One of the most significant events of World War Two happened in 1945. This was the dropping of on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by American forces.

The decision to drop the atom bomb was taken by President Harry S. Truman, who had replaced Franklin Roosevelt following his death in April 1945. On 6 August 1945, Truman ordered an atom bomb to be dropped on the city of Hiroshima. It was dropped by a bomber plane named the Enola Gay. It is thought that at least 140,000 people were killed, of a total population of around 350,000.

When the atom bomb was dropped:

The temperature at the centre of the explosion reached 3000ºC - 4000ºC - three times hotter than volcanic lava.

Everything within a mile of the centre of the blast was flattened.

Fires spread and around 67 per cent of Hiroshima's buildings were destroyed.

Three days after the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a second one was dropped on the city of Nagasaki by a bomber plane called Bockscar. A further 74,000 people, at least, were killed. The Japanese Emperor, Hirohito, announced that Japan would surrender on 15 August. They formally signed a surrender agreement on 2 September.

This brought World War Two to an end.

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Find out about World War Two with BBC Bitesize History. For students between the ages of 11 and 14.

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Currently on Netflix

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Currently on Netflix

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Available via Now TV (Sky)

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BBC IPlayer

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How Hitler seized, kept and fell from power - and the postwar manhunt for war criminals.

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Welcome to Britannica School , a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Primary, Middle and Secondary School.

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A young Indian soldier serving in the British army faces racism as he and his friends make their way to the evacuation zone at Dunkirk.

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Set during the end of World War 2, a group of refugees escape Germany by ship.

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Follows the fortunes of four young people caught up in the events of D-Day.

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A survivor of the Hiroshima bombing in 1945 shares his feelings of guilt with his granddaughter after telling her the story of what happened on that day, and subsequent days and years.

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A Jewish teen hopes to bring down the Nazi regime when she goes undercover in a top boarding school for the cream of German society during World War II.

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Based on an astonishing true story of bravery and rebellion, Reinhardt recounts the dangerous exploits of a group of teenage anti-Nazis in Hitler’s Germany and how they fought to bring down a horrific regime.

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A blistering wartime thriller based on the real-life espionage work at Bletchley Park, Enigma finds a talented codebreaker sensing a spy amongst his colleagues when his girlfriend goes missing.

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Mal Peet's Carnegie Medal-winning novel. When her grandfather dies, Tamar inherits a box containing a series of clues and coded messages. Out of the past, another Tamar emerges, a man involved in the terrifying world of resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Holland half a century earlier. His story is one of passionate love, jealousy and tragedy set against the daily fear and casual horror of the Second World War. Unravelling it will transform the younger Tamar's life...

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Twentieth Century British and World History 1900-2020 - Knowing History

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Twentieth Century British and World History 1900-2020 - Knowing History

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A great chapter on wartime Britain

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Why was the Second World War so devastating, and how had the world become so divided into armed camps? How did the war affect people on both sides of the conflict, and why are its consequences still felt today? This book seeks to relate the overall events and chronology of the war and show its impact on everyday lives.

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id you know that onions were given as birthday presents in WWII? Or that exploding camel dung was used as a weapon? Could a leaky toilet force a submarine crew to abandon ship?

This is history like you've never known it before! Ask yourself . . .

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World War II: Visual Encyclopedia shows the causes, battles, people, and aftermath, while cutting-edge CGI technology brings infamous events back to life. Learn about weaponry, tanks, ships, aircraft, campaigns, and military strategies. Read firsthand accounts of major campaigns and battles throughout the war. Uncover hundreds of biographies of wartime leaders and brave soldiers who served on the battlefields. Find out how technological advances influenced the final outcome.

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The World War II Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained 

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The World War II Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained 

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An accessible guide to the key events and turning points of the Second World War, and the people and groups behind them.

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BBC World Service - Witness History, World War Two - Downloads

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BBC Sounds - WW2: War and Words - Available Episodes

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Listen to the latest episodes of WW2: War and Words on BBC Sounds

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Originally broadcast over 50 years ago, this is the definitive story of WW2. It may seem dated but the interviewees and footage are exceptional.

Available to view via UKTV Play for free.

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Watch The World at War Series & Episodes on UKTV Play

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Acclaimed British documentary series from the 1970s telling the story of World War II

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Explores what life was like on the Home Front during the Second World War.

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BBC

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On 3 September 1939 Britain went to war with Hitler's Germany. In the fight against fascism, broadcasting played a starring role: as informant, morale-booster, propaganda weapon.

This World War Two collection opens up unique oral history archives - featuring men and women on location in the field as well as those on the Home Front - to shed light on how the BBC shaped the experience of war and how war transformed the BBC in return.

Curated by Emeritus Professor David Hendy and Dr Alban Webb, University of Sussex.

Editorial Note

The BBC and World War Two contains excerpts and programmes from BBC services at specific moments in time. The material should be viewed in this context and with the understanding that it reflects the attitudes and standards of its time - not those of today.

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On 3 September 1939 Britain went to war with Hitler's Germany. In the fight against fascism, broadcasting played a starring role: as informant, morale-booster, propaganda weapon.

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BBC

There are 47,000 stories in the WW2 People's War archive. Browse through the categories below to find stories and photographs concerning major aspects of World War Two, and the locations where key events took place.

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There are 47,000 stories in the WW2 People's War archive. Browse through the categories below to find stories and photographs concerning major aspects of World War Two, and the locations where key events took place. Find out how these stories were categorised

Location

Home Front

Bombing and the Blitz

The Blitz [2,911 stories]
V-1s and V-2s [424 stories]
Air Raids and Other Bombing [3,145 stories]
Anderson Shelters [72 stories]

Working Life

Land Army [225 stories]
Reserved Occupations [199 stories]
Nursing and Medicine [193 stories]
Working Through War [1,331 stories]

Domestic Life

Childhood and Evacuation [14,336 stories]
Family Life [3,203 stories]
Rationing [1,295 stories]
Love in Wartime [630 stories]
International Friendships [419 stories]
Arts, Entertainment and Media [205 stories]

Volunteer Organisations

Home Guard [292 stories]
Air Raid Precautions [181 stories]
Fire Duty [137 stories]
Women's Volunteer Groups [21 stories]

Armed Forces

Land

British Army [6,364 stories]
Auxiliary Territorial Service [287 stories]

Sea

Royal Navy [2,570 stories]
Women's Royal Naval Service [103 stories]
Merchant Navy [258 stories]

Air

Royal Air Force [2,895 stories]
Women's Auxiliary Air Force [308 stories]

Other Forces

Allied and Commonwealth Forces [376 stories]
Axis Forces [112 stories]

Internment

Prisoners of War [987 stories]
Concentration Camps [48 stories]
Civilian Internment [95 stories]

Occupation

Resistance and Occupation [225 stories]
Propaganda [22 stories]

Books, Diaries, Letters and Poetry

Key Events

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There are 47,000 stories in the WW2 People's War archive. Browse through the categories below to find stories and photographs concerning major aspects of World War Two, and the locations where key events took place.

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BBC/IWM

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One option might be to study World War Two in overview: key events and aspects, such as the causes of the war, theatres of conflict, the civilian experience, the role of women, and the contributions of people not just in Britain but across the world.

Another option might be to study one topic in depth (eg evacuation, enlisting, the Home Front, occupation in mainland Europe).

You could focus on understanding how different types of historical sources are used rigorously to make historical claims.

Consider using the films to establish their utility. What do they tell us? How far are they limited in what we learn? How reliable is the evidence provided? How far might source provenance influence the utility and reliability of the content?

Build a glossary of relevant key vocabulary, such as 'evacuation', 'occupied', 'Blitz' as used in the contexts of the films.

Note that the films have a predominantly UK and particularly London focus.

Note that as the interviewees are now adults their perspective is naturally that of children or very young adults.

Pose a historically-valid question to guide the enquiry.

An example "How far is it accurate to suggest that that Evacuation was a success?" This invites pupils to use their knowledge to consider what success might have been in the historical context. Then, equipped with a reasoned criteria, analysis and judgements may be pursued.

Invite pupils to develop a key enquiry question based on what they have learned so far, and see if they can answer from the new film evidence.

A table might be useful to direct pupils' focus. It might move from knowledge acquisition notes, through to higher level skills of provenance. An evidence based scoring tariff to assist in the assessment of each film, will guide analysis towards your learning objectives. Subsequently, contrast and compare the films' values, to build an overview and summative reasoned analysis that addresses the initial key question.

Pupils make notes from viewing the films, then score the value of their research (1=weak to 5=excellent), as the evidence furthers their ability to answer the key question.

The films will variously introduce new knowledge, confirm or question existing knowledge or assumptions, thereby being more or less useful or limited. The circumstance of the witness may enhance or undermine the credibility (and therefore value) of the evidence.

To further extend critical thinking, the class can be encouraged to discuss the idea that the sources may help with other enquiries even though they are considered to be limited for the current one.

You will probably be selective in the films used using those which address your theme. Alternatively you may compare and contrast the experiences of different interviewees when discussing the same topic.

It can be useful to show the selected films twice. Once to "take in" the content, then again to take notes and analyse.

You may choose to organise the exercise into pairs or groups to stimulate discussion and reasoning skills.

Pupils summarise what they have learned from the films. This exercise can begin at the foundation level of apparent knowledge learned and then be developed through stages of higher level analysis, reflecting the design of the table used during viewing.

All reasoning should use examples from the films and ideally, existing prior knowledge to assess the utility of the new evidence.

Contrasting sources such as contemporary accounts, official government ones, those from the press and newsreels, visual versus written evidence, could be analysed in a similar way to broaden and deepen the analysis of different types of evidence.

Another opportunity is for the class to perform role-plays. This might be one person providing testimony to the class, or 'hot seating' where different pupils occupy the evacuee, soldier or other character and answer questions about their experience. Such activities can deepen secure knowledge and understanding.

Differentiate your grid with one focus of knowledge learned from the films. This can then be extended to perhaps consider how the new learning compares with earlier knowledge. Does it confirm or question what we knew?

The group ideas previously mentioned can promote all abilities to contribute and build confidence. They can also expose the class to different perspectives of analysis.

Writing frames or cue cards linked to the analysis frame used during viewing of the films may also support the construction of balance and reasoned discussion and summaries.

The class might redeploy their developed analysis skills using further BBC Teach resources. Both Our Greatest Generation and The Last Survivors collections would ideally support a consolidation and development of the historical enquiry methodology used before. The collections are specific to the study of World War Two.

The class might be encouraged to interview family members regarding past and contemporary events. Examples might include; Migration to the UK or the Covid -19 pandemic , as both relate to options at GCSE: Medicine Through Time and Britain: migration, empires and the people c790 to the present day . This could take the form of a collection of films recorded via mobile telephones.

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These short videos feature the personal testimony of 11 veterans and eye-witnesses of World War Two. There are varied experiences across the 12 videos - from military personnel to people who were children during the war. Experiences of evacuation, rationing, blitz bombings and VE Day are all discussed.

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Encompassing the conflict from its roots to its aftermath, more than 50 themes are treated in great detail, ranging from the rise of the Far Right in pre-war Europe and mass mobilization, to evolving military tactics and technology and the financial and human cost of the conflict. Throughout, the shifting balance of power between the Axis and the Allies and the global nature of the war and its devastation are made strikingly clear.

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How many soldiers went to war? How many came home? How many civilians were made homeless? How many bombs were dropped, and where did they land? With over 25 nations fighting the second world war on four different continents the numbers were staggering.

Covering a huge amount of content World War II in Numbers brings these staggering statistics to life with easily digestible graphics depicting the conflict, casualties, weaponry, cost and technology, clearly illustrating the war's impact on individuals, whole countries, and the global social and economic effects that would last long into peacetime.

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The Second World War 1939-45 examines the causes of the war and details the course of the conflict in Western Europe, the USSR, Africa and the Pacific.

It also describes the experiences of civilians, resistance fighters, prisoners of war and Holocaust victims.

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Juliet Gardiner's critically acclaimed book - the first in a generation to tell the people's story of the Second World War - offers a compelling and comprehensive account of the pervasiveness of war on the Home Front. The book has been commended for its inclusion of many under-described aspects of the Home Front, and alongside familiar stories of food shortages, evacuation and the arrival of the GIs, are stories of Conscientious Objectors, persecuted Italians living in Britain and Lumber Jills working in the New Forest. Drawing on a multitude of sources, many previously unpublished, she tells the story of those six gruelling years in voices from the Orkney Islands to Cornwall, from the Houses of Parliament to the Nottinghamshire mines.