Kent at war: Colourised photos of the Second World War from the KM archive

rbarman@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 05:00, 08 May 2025

PREMIUM

Here’s a look back at wartime Kent unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Using the latest image colourisation software, we’ve digitally enhanced more than 100 photos from our archive to bring the era to life in a new way.

A dog is carried by an RSPCA inspector after being rescued from a bombed building at Strood in 1944

While it’s impossible to represent exactly the colours of the time - and some pictures show inconsistencies - we hope they are still accurate enough to bring a new dimension to a conflict that is usually presented through the black and white photos of the time.

As the country marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day and the end of the Second World War, here we use modern-day technology to tell the story of the conflict and its impact on the county, year by year, through these remarkable images.

1939

War was declared on Germany at the start of September 1939.

People in Kent had already been busy preparing for the bombardment they would face from Adolf Hitler’s Nazis but life still carried on as normal in many ways.

The early months of the conflict were known as the ‘Phoney War’, with no major military action and the worst still to come.

Civil defence measures were put in place, including the organisation of Air Raid Precautions (ARP) and shelters were created across the county. Mass evacuations were planned and the process began of moving children away from areas expected to be heavily bombed.

Coastal defences were also put into place.

Putting together an air raid shelter in April 1939

A.R.P. Volunteer drivers on a practice run from Mote Park, Maidstone

A decontamination squad in action during an ARP exercise in Courtenay Road, Maidstone, in October

The clouds of war were looming when the Duke of Kent visited the Kent County Agricultural Show in Folkestone in July

Some members of the Auxiliary Fire Services with their trailer pumps at Ordnance St School, Chatham

Men reporting for duty lining up at a recruitment depot in Kent

Trenches being dug at an unknown location in August

Cars and vans were converted to ambulances at Hales & Sons Motor Works, at East Street, Sittingbourne

Woman's Land Army staff preparing petrol ration coupons at Tunbridge Wells

Police on duty in Chatham with gas masks and tin hats in September

The Mission to Seamen held up scores of ships at 'Contraband Control' in the Downs, off Deal; here a missioner goes aboard a Swedish vessel

Auxiliary firemen carry out a drill at Rochester Esplanade

Patients are taken to safety during an evacuation at Sevenoaks Hospital

Rochester Cathedral being sandbagged for protection in this photo from September

The adjutant inspecting the Home Guard at an unknown location in the county

Evacuations continue as Holcombe Road School pupils prepare to leave from Rochester Station in September

North Kent and Gravesend Hospital held a training exercise in November, in case it needed to cater for heavy casualties

This picture of Air Raid Precautions wardens was taken in Chatham on Boxing Day 1939

1940

After months of ‘Phoney War’, Kent was plunged into the heart of the conflict.

The Battle of Britain started in July 1940 in the skies over the county, which also suffered regular bombardment and many casualties.

The Home Guard was formed this year to guard coastal areas and protect industrial sites from potential invasion.

The German advance through France in May and June 1940 led to the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Allied troops from Dunkirk, with many of the soldiers rescued from the beaches being brought back to ports in Kent.

The threat of a German invasion of Britain, codenamed Operation Sea Lion, loomed large with Kent considered the most likely invasion point.

The year also saw the start of the Blitz, with the German Luftwaffe air force bombing towns throughout the county and elsewhere in Britain.

Members of the Southern Railway Volunteer corps (Maidstone branch) on a refresher course on the use of the rifle

Pots and pans are collected in Gravesend to help with the production of aeroplanes

A member of the Women's Land Army sawing logs at East Sutton

King George VI came to Kent on April 10, 1940, when he visited Shorncliffe in Folkestone and inspected the Royal Artillery at Dover Garrison

Pupils of the Kings School, Rochester, were sent to Bayham Abbey, Lamberhurst

Captain M. B. Morling carries out an inspection of troops in Maidstone

Girls clutch their favourite dolls as they leave Gillingham on an evacuee train to South Wales in June

Schoolchildren with baggage and gas masks waiting to be evacuated from Gillingham in June

Pilots of 32 Squadron enjoying a brief respite from action at Hawkinge Airfield during the Battle of Britain

Members of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) returning from Dunkirk

A German bomber brought down in a hop garden near Marden in July

One of two huge craters made in Detling Road, Northfleet, where a lamp post was uprooted by a bomb on August 24, 1940

Shocked residents after a bombing in Marsham Street, Maidstone, on September 2

Bomb damage at Ross Street, Rochester, on October 12

Searching among the ruins for casualties after the bombing of the Church Road library site, Ashford, in November

A house demolished by a bomb in Park Road, Sittingbourne, on December 5, 1940

1941

The county continued to face intense bombing in 1941, with air raids throughout the year.

Towns in Kent suffered significant bomb damage and high numbers of civilian casualties, as people were forced to spend much time in air raid shelters.

Along with the rest of the UK, people in the county also endured further wartime rationing and blackouts.

The wider conflict escalated this year, following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbour in December, bringing the United States into the war.

Gracie Fields entertains workers at Rochester CAV works

Collecting furniture from bombed houses in Trotts Hall Gardens, Sittingbourne, in February 1941

Staff writing out agricultural coupons at County Hall, Maidstone

Shoppers and children wearing gas masks in Earl Street, Maidstone during a mock gas attack

Bomb damage to homes in Snodland, in February

A Canterbury Battalion of the Home Guard march through the city with other civil defence workers

A German Heinkel 110 bomber shot down at Kennington, Ashford

Auxillary Fire Service workers salvage belongings after people were made homeless by bombing in Wickham Street, Rochester, in April

Canterbury first aid personnel with a new American trailer ambulance presented by people in New York State

Home Guard members crossing the river during a 'Battle of Canterbury' exercise in November

A policeman on duty outside the Granada cinema, Maidstone

A butcher's business in Princess Street, Rochester

Members of the 28th (1stSR) Battalion of the Home Guard during an excercise at Chatham

Servicemen queue up for a cup of tea and a bun at the YMCA canteen in Chatham

Considerable damage to houses in Sturry when bombs fell in November 1941

1942

Kent was still playing a crucial part in the battle on the home front in 1942.

Sporadic air raids continued and the Luftwaffe began the so-called Baedeker Blitz, targeting British cities of cultural and historical significance, including Canterbury.

American troops had an increasing presence in the UK, with many stationed in the county as the global war continued to expand, with battles in the Pacific and North Africa.

Members of the Women's Land Army keep warm around a brazier

Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill at Kearsney station during a visit to Dover

MP Sir Patrick Spens visits the railway works at Ashford to praise the contribution of women volunteers

Fishermen in Folkestone show their gratitude to British pilots by giving the best of their catch each day to the RAF Benevolent Fund

A realistic defence at a road barrier in the Medway towns during a defence training exercise

Helping youngsters at the Maidstone Wartime Nursery

Members of the Civil Defence and corporation refuse collectors gave up their Saturdays to collect salvage, especially waste paper

Two women on duty at Tunbridge Wells police station

A farm workers' canteen was opened by Leslie Caldecott for employees on Buston Manor Farm, Hunton

These emergency food vans in Gravesend were used to send hot food to areas affected by enemy action

A 1,000 kilo bomb had lain 22ft deep in a Northfleet garden since 1940 before being discovered and rendered harmless in July 1942

Children in Canterbury with the tail fin of a bomb which crashed through a house in October 1942

Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the president of the United States, with the Mayor of Canterbury, Alderman Charles Lefevre, outside the Cathedral in October

A mother puts her child to bed in his shelter bunk in Gravesend

Rescuing furniture from bombed houses in York Road after the second blitz of Canterbury in October

Three days before Christmas 1942, German bombers destroyed these homes in Grosvenor Road, Kennington, Ashford

1943

Kent continued to come under fire in 1943 but was still standing its ground.

While the Allies gained increasing air superiority, sporadic bombing raids by the Luftwaffe continued to affect the county.

As preparations for an Allied invasion of Europe progressed, Kent became a hub for military activity, with increased troop movements and training exercises.

Civilian life was still impacted by rationing and other wartime restrictions.

In the wider conflict, Allied victories such as the conclusion of the North African campaign and the invasion of Sicily indicated that the tide of the war was starting to turn.

Blood given by donors in Kent being packed into a van at Maidstone for shipment to North Africa

Men from the Home Guard in Maidstone learn to cook

An air raid drill for school pupils at Dymchurch

Road blocks are removed from Maidstone Bridge

An RAF rescue launches to help a British airman

A field dressing station was erected on the Common, Tunbridge Wells, with equipment to aid soldiers wounded in battle

Firewatchers in Maidstone with a wheelbarrow pump

Sticking savings stamps on a bomb for direct delivery by the RAF to Hitler during Canterbury's 'Wings for Victory' week in April 1943

An RAF fighter in the Palace Gardens during Maidstone's Wings for Victory week in June 1943

An RAF Spitfire attracted great interest in Palace Gardens, Maidstone, as part of the Wings for Victory fund-raising event

Southern Railway Home Gard with their 75mm anti-tank guns during practice at Hythe

The Princess Royal takes an interest in repairs being carried out by workers at ordnance workshops in Ashford

The Royal Observer Corps' central headquarters in Maidstone

The winning platoon in a ATS gardening competition at Tonbridge

A crashed Junkers 88 at Brenzett, near Ashford

Wartime salvage at Gillingham Corporation Salvage Depot

The Duchess of Kent talks to a young patient during her tour of the Kent Ophthalmic Hospital in Maidstone

One of the voluntary workers making camouflage nets

1944

The war reached a turning point with the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944, as thousands of Allied troops began the liberation of Western Europe.

Kent remained under heavy bombardment throughout that summer as Germany hit back with the deadly Doodlebug raids.

The county suffered significant damage and civilian casualties from the flying V1 bombs.

Despite the progress of the war, rationing and other restrictions continued to affect daily life, with the hope of victory tempered by the continued horrors of war.

Firemen take a welcome break after a raid on Canterbury in January 1944

The National Fire Services testing a trailer pump beside the River Medway at Maidstone

A woman retrieves her undamaged wireless set from the wreckage of her Strood home in February 1944

This picture shows some of the damage in the village of Fawkham after a Doodlebug was caught in the cable of the barrage balloon in the background

Field Marshall 'Monty' Montgomery inspected troops in Mote Park in February 1944

Sorting out remaining furniture after bomb damage at Tonbridge in March

Flying bomb damage in the village of Smarden

An ack ack gun site engaged against flying bombs in Hythe

A homeless family in a rest centre after a bomb was dropped at Station Road, Strood

Soldiers enjoying some leisure time at Ramsgate Canteen

Naval ratings helped to salvage furniture from houses in Wilson Avenue, Rochester, when a flying bomb fell

Queues for the Tonbridge-Maidstone bus service

Civil police check identity cards in the Medway Towns

Work to replace shattered street lamps in Ashford

The Queen chatting to members of the National Fire Service during a visit to Folkestone

A bulldozer clears away debris after houses in Twiss Road, Hythe, were wrecked by a flying bomb

A bag of food is given to children in Medway as they leave for safe temporary homes in the country

National Fire Service men wash off children's desks after they had been salvaged from Queenborough School following a bombing raid

US troops standing by their lorry in High Halden

The aftermath of a plane crash at Gillingham

Dismantling barbed wire defences in Margate

1945

People in the county maintained their resolve as the tide of war turned and were celebrating victory within a year of D-Day.

May 8, 1945, marked VE Day, following Germany's unconditional surrender, bringing an end to the war in Europe.

Widespread celebrations took place in Kent and across the country.

The process of rebuilding began as people adjusted to life in peacetime and the challenges of reconstruction. Soldiers returned home as the armed forces were demobilised.

In August 1945, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered, marking the end of the Second World War.