The Blitz began with the bombing of London for 57 consecutive nights. By the end of May 1941, over 22,000 civilians, had been killed by bombing and more than a million houses were destroyed or damaged within London.
The East End was particularly hard hit. With a total of 2,221 civilians killed, and 7,472 injured; 46,482 houses were destroyed and a further 47,574 damaged. After the war, many families were rehoused in prefabricated housing - which remained in use into the 1970s. Today, 1950s and 1960s architecture dominates the housing estates of the East End such as the Lansbury Estate in Poplar, which was built as a show-piece of the 1951 Festival of Britain.
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