Elephant and Castle Tube Station 1940 - 1941. Londoners fearing the blitz and not trusting the public shelter or their own shelters started sheltering on Underground Stations, favoring the deeper lines. The Govenment, bowing to pressure, installed bunks and benches and placed underground trains in stations to provide facilities for the hundreds of people who took shelter. Travelling on the underground late one night in 1941 Henry Moore Sculptor and War Artist was captivated by the people beginning to gather on the underground platforms. Out of respect for the people sheltering Henry Moore only made notes and quick sketches in the stations when he returned, working up his drawings in his studio
Henry Moore - photo still by Lee Miller - photographed during the filming of a cinema news film on the war artists and how London was adapting to the blitz
Since the newspapers in the 19th Century had sent artists to draw soldiers in action, so there could be pictures to accompany the written reports. During the Second World War, to help moral and show how civilians were coping, the british govenment appointed War Artists to record the home front.
