Sandbagging of objects in 1939 at the V&A

As can be seen in this picture a team of men were using sandbags to protect objects against enemy bombs. Many of the smaller and more portable items were taken to the bomb-proof stores in the basement of the Museum, to Montacute House, or to the Aldwych Tube station which it shared with the British Museum. A photographer came round to the Museum to mark the event, keen he said to prove that the Museum was preparing for war and looking after its treasures hence we have the photos of the sandbagging taking place.

In the picture one can see various objects although the sandbags obscure what they have covered so far.  The tomb sculpture with a figure on a horse, a stone archway and a roundel can all be seen as the next things that will be sandbagged. Both the roundel and the Spinetta Malaspina tomb monument can still be seen in the Museum today.