Woodbines for the Wounded, 1941

Ask any soldier who has known the desperation and depravation of a combat situation and they will tell you that it is often the so-called 'small things' that have the biggest effect on their morale. The dry pair of socks, the warming cup of tea or the humble cigarette.

Mindful of this, during the Second World War, the British government encouraged smokers to donate spare cigarettes to be sent onto hospitals treating wounded soldiers.

What the woman in this photograph, taken at a tobacconist shop in London, doesn't know is that her donated cigarettes were detined to be enjoyed by injured members of Adolf Hitler's Wehrmacht.

The owner of this particular shop, Arnold Green, was a notorious Nazi sympathiser who spent the war years supplying German troops with tobacco and confectionery.

At the end of the war, Green was hung for treason.

Make love not war, 1968

Britain in 1968. A strange and troubled place and time. The 'summer of love' was a distant, patchouli-scented memory. Beads and beauty were about to give way to menace and malevolence. There were violent student riots, demonstrations about the Vietnam conflict and the powderkeg across the Irish Sea was about to explode leaving Britain scarred for decades.

One young man, Dave Dawson, decided to articulate his feelings and leave his mark on the urban landscape with a cry from the heart daubed on an average London street.

Unfortunately for Dave, he was observed painting his message for peace by a vanload of off-duty policemen who cornered him in a nearby street and kicked him to death. 

Powell for PM, 2012

London. 2012. Olympic fever is at a peak.

On a residential street, barely two miles from the Olympic Park, graffiti has appeared calling for the elevation of Hope Powell, the Head Coach of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland women's football team, to high office.

After an impressive start to the tournament, only time will tell whether Powell's successful stewardship of the national team will ignite her political career.

A nation waits - and hopes.

Supporting London's sex workers, 1971

Working in the sex industry is a dangerous and frightening business.

Sex workers all over the world ply their trade under threat of constant violence: from their clients, their pimps and, on occasion, from other girls. Many prostitutes are addicted to hard drugs and a high proportion of them will die young and, often, in violent circumstances.

Lord Morriston of Lambeth (1901-79), a Conservative member of the House of Lords, was a friend to and tireless campaigner on behalf of the rights of prostitutes working in London.

Morrison (seen here in his car) was a familiar figure in London's red light districts driving his car very slowly and stopping frequently to talk the girls. Such was his concern for their welfare, he would often invite them into his car for a chat and offer them money. So concerned was he to ensure that he did insult them by his offer of money, he would often engage in sexual intercourse with the girls.

Royal Wedding celebration, 2011

 

Britons through the ages enjoy nothing more than an excuse to join together in a communal celebration. Food, drink (preferably alcoholic), music and the company of family and loved ones are the essential ingredients. Any excuse will do: victory on the battlefield, a rare sporting triumph or a Royal Celebration.

April 2011 saw the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton. A nation rejoiced and this photograph, taken in somewhere in the north of England, shows Britons young and old alike toasting the happy couple.

Feeding pigeons in Trafalgar Square, 1956

For many years, one of the most popular tourist sights in London was the feeding of the pigeons in Trafalgar Square.

This woman, Mabel Barnes, was employed by Westminster Council to distribute poisoned bird seed to keep numbers down. The bird seed used by the Council was designed to cause the pigeons a slow and agonising death.

During her career, Mabel was personally responsible for the deaths of many thousands of these unwelcome and disease-ridden pests. Her service to Westminster saw her awarded the freedom of the borough.

Sadly, shortly after this picture was taken, Mabel was pecked to death by these birds.

A campaign to erect a statue of Mabel on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square was recently announced by the Council.

No Irish. No Blacks. No Donkeys 1968

It was common in London pubs until relatively recently to see signs proclaiming ‘No blacks. No Irish. No donkeys’.

In years gone by, London pubs could be less than welcoming to strangers and these signs were designed to warn off the casual drinker from entering these pubs lest they incur the wrath of the locals.

It took a brave publican in those less-enlightened times to open the doors of his establishment to all who were thirsty and in need of refreshment.

In 1968, Charlie Perkins, the landlord of the Queen Mary in Plaistow, East London (seen here on the left), caused controversy when he was the first publican in London to allow donkeys to drink freely in his pub.

The Queen Mary continued to ban Irish drinkers until 1985 and the ban on black people still operates to this day.