Communal Cooking During World War Two

London County Council set up communal cooking centres for people without gas or other mains services due to the bombing. Food was sold at low cost, but customers had to bring their own dishes and carry it home to eat.

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By May 1941 many workers had been bombed out of their homes and their workplaces. Here they queue for soup dispensed from a van provided by the United States. The USA did not join the war until December 1941 but before that time, they helped Britain with many resources, not just food aid. In March 1941 the Lend-Lease Bill had come into effect, allowing the US to lease military equipment, paid for by the US government, to Britain.

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Opposite page: A communal feeding centre in south London where even those not made homeless had few places to buy food as many of the shops had been damaged in raids.

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