3-057-464 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Swiss Cottager, De Profundis, Organ of Air Raid Shelterers, 1940. A free magazine published by a committee elected by the people who regularly took shelter in Swiss Cottage underground station at the height of the bombing of London in 1940. The committee negotiated with the authorities for an improvement in facilities for the shelterers. Subjects discussed include: the placing of three-tier bunk beds on underground station platforms; the use of deck chairs; littering; and the provision of tea and drinking water. Thousands of Londoners used underground stations to sleep in at night. Such magazines, published during the Second World War by local groups such as air raid wardens and fire fighters, vividly evoke life on the 'home front' at this time. The subtitle 'De Profundis' (Out of the depths) may refer to Psalm 130 in the Bible.