6 September 2012 Last updated at 08:47

In pictures: Cecil Beaton's war

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

The Imperial War Museum has a major new exhibition exploring the impact of World War II on photographer Cecil Beaton’s life and work.

Commissioned by the Ministry of Information, Beaton took some 7,000 photographs between 1940 and the end of the war, such as this example of bomb damage in London, 1940.

A workman with a wheelbarrow clears up fallen debris from the roof of St Mary-le-Bow

Beaton's love of theatre inspired the style and composition of much of his work. Here, a workman with a wheelbarrow clears up fallen debris from the roof of St Mary-le-Bow after its first bombing.

A welder stands on the deck of a new ship

He is probably best know for the fashion and society portrait work he provided as a staff photographer for Vogue and Vanity Fair. He brought that particular style to the task of documenting the Home Front.

A sailor uses a portable sewing machine to repair a signal flag

A sailor on board HMS Alcantara uses a portable sewing machine to repair a signal flag during a voyage to Sierra Leone.

Flying Officer Neville Duke of No 92, East India Squadron, a Battle of Britain pilot with his Spitfire at RAF Biggin Hill, 1941. After the war, Duke became one of Britain’s leading test pilots and broke the World Air Speed Record in 1953.

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

The exhibition comprises 350 photographs, artefacts, vintage documents and publications, film clips, digital media, sketches and design work and runs until January 2013.

In Pictures

In pictures: Cecil Beaton's war

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