Slough at War

Modern Slough was shaped by the two world wars of the 20th century. The First World War directly led to the creation and development of Slough Trading Estate and this in turn led to the expansion of the town. This meant that the town needed a much larger workforce and became attractive to people from around Britain especially Wales and Ireland.

In the Second World War the town took in evacuees from the London Blitz and the Trading Estate turned to the production of items vitally needed for the war effort.

After the Second World War the country became a focus for ex-servicemen from Eastern Europe, especially Poland, who met and married British women. This led to the establishment of the Slough Polish Club Stoke Poges, which is actually outside of Slough.

Another consequence of the Second World War was the breakup of the British Empire and the forming of the Commonwealth. This has led to some immigration of peoples from around the world especially Asia to seek new lives in Britain and Slough has accepted many of them to live and work in the town. They themselves were attracted to the town for the opportunities offered here. This makes Slough one of the most cosmopolitan and culturally diverse towns in the country.

Slough did not suffer severe attacks from aerial bombing compared to the scale that some other towns in the country did, but it did play a vital role in those conflicts and experienced huge changes in its destiny in consequence to the events.