Cecil Beaton is a photographer synonymous with portraits of the rich and the famous, not least of all iconic shots of Queen Elizabeth at the start of her reign.

But this month a new exhibition and book (Cecil Beaton: The Theatre Of War) will reveal a different, rarely-seen side to his work: the touching and often harrowing images he took during World War II.

cecil beaton Men of the Long Range Desert Group after returning to headquarters at the end of a desert patrol, Siwa, Libya, 1942


Blitzed London streets and bombed out Burmese families, shipyard workers in Tyneside and Generals in China and Burma and bomber squadrons and aircraft wreckages in the North African desert will all be on display from 6 September at the Imperial War Museum.

The show will also include one of his few already iconic pieces from the era: 4-year-old Eileen Dunne, captured by Beaton as she rested in her hospital bed with a bandaged head after being wounded by a bomb splinter, clutched her teddy. Appearing in Life magazine in 1940, it proved a great tool for British propaganda in the US.

Here’s a selection of what you can expect from the show:

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  • Bomb damage, Bloomsbury Square, London 1940

    IMAGE: CECIL BEATON: THEATRE OF WAR Published by Jonathan Cape in Hardback on 06th September | £35 & Definitive Edition | £100

  • Flying Officer, Nevill Duke

    Flying Officer, Nevill Duke of No92 (East India Squadron, A Battle of Britain pilot with his Spitfire at RAF Biggin Hill 1941. (After the war, Neville Duke became one of Britain's leading test pilots and broke the World Air Speed Record in 1953) IMAGE: CECIL BEATON: THEATRE OF WAR Published by Jonathan Cape in Hardback on 06th September | £35 & Definitive Edition | £100

  • Men of the Long Range Desert Group

    Men of the Long Range Desert Group after returning to headquarters at the end of a desert patrol, Siwa, Libya, 1942 IMAGE: CECIL BEATON: THEATRE OF WAR Published by Jonathan Cape in Hardback on 06th September | £35 & Definitive Edition | £100

  • Part of IWM's "Ministry of Information Second World War Official Collection"

    IMAGE: CECIL BEATON: THEATRE OF WAR Published by Jonathan Cape in Hardback on 06th September | £35 & Definitive Edition | £100

  • A welder works on the deck of a new ship, Tyneside, 1943

    A welder works on the deck of a new ship, Tyneside, 1943 IMAGE: CECIL BEATON: THEATRE OF WAR Published by Jonathan Cape in Hardback on 06th September | £35 & Definitive Edition | £100

  • A sailor on board HMS ALCANTARA

    A sailor on board HMS ALCANTARA uses a portable sewing machine to repair a signal flag during a voyage to Sierra Leone. IMAGE: CECIL BEATON: THEATRE OF WAR Published by Jonathan Cape in Hardback on 06th September | £35 & Definitive Edition | £100

  • A wren serving with the crew of a harbour launch, Portsmouth 1941

    IMAGE: CECIL BEATON: THEATRE OF WAR Published by Jonathan Cape in Hardback on 06th September | £35 & Definitive Edition | £100

  • IMAGE: CECIL BEATON: THEATRE OF WAR Published by Jonathan Cape in Hardback on 06th September | £35 & Definitive Edition | £100

Cecil Beaton: Theatre Of War Is published by Jonathan Cape. £35 hardback and £100 definitive edition.