Littlewood’s Air Raid Shelter - Liverpool

History

“Edge Hill's Littlewoods site features a 300m, 1938-era reinforced concrete air raid shelter, built parallel to the art deco factory for rapid access via 13 entrances. Likely starting as a Munich Crisis trench and semi-buried for protection, it served workers at Littlewoods, a major catalogue company repurposed for WWII efforts like printing registration forms, assembling Halifax bomber parts, and housing the MI5 code breaking unit MC5. The shelter's notable features include portraits of occupants (possibly by an MC5 artist), cigarette lighter graffiti from 1942-43, and remnants of benches and toilet cubicles. Discovered on a 1940 map”.