The men were gunners of the Royal Artillery, stationed at Shornemead Fort on the south bank of the River Thames near Gravesend. The fort’s guns guarded the river approach to London. In late 1940 the city was being bombed almost every night, during g the blitz

That December the battery was putting on a Christmas show… for charity.. allegedly .

The pictures were taken by John Topham, a press photographer. By his account, during the rehearsal he was photographing the alarm sounded. The men ran to the guns in their frocks and tin helmets, and he kept shooting.

Wartime censors were not amused. Officials said worried that German propaganda would use the images to mock the British Army, and most of them were held back. A few ran in a magazine in February 1941 under the headline “Miss Ack-Ack had a date with Jerry.”