Revealing Secrets | Week 15 | World War II photographs

World War II photographs

What's the story behind a striking collection of official World War II photographs found - along with a helmet and a rifle - in a London attic? Now owned by a fascinated Bristol woman, the photos capture some of Britain's major figures, such as Montgomery, Churchill and the present Queen and Queen Mother, as well as events including the liberation of Belsen, VE Day and the execution of Mussolini.

Black-and-white photograph showing Montgomery (?) and two aides in discussion with four leather-coated Nazi officers.

The Revealing Secrets team visits the photographic collection of the Imperial War Museum in an attempt to discover the significance and origins of the photos and to make an educated guess as to who might have owned them over 50 years ago.

Related links

1939 - On the Brink of War
www.channel4.com/plus/1939/
Produced by Channel 4 to accompany Did We Have to Fight?, The World We Lost and The Very British War Movie, first shown in August 1999.

Imperial War Museum
www.iwm.org.uk/
Aims to provide for, and encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and war-time experience. The photographic archive spans both world wars and contains over 6 million images, a selection of which can be viewed online.

BBC History Online
www.bbc.co.uk/history
Here you'll find information on the people and events depicted in the photos in the programme plus a year-by-year summary of events from 1939 to 1945.