World War Two

Over 7,700 male and female employees of Aviva constituent companies from around the world served in the forces in World War Two. Members of our staff were involved in most of the major land, air and sea battles and events of the war from Dunkirk to the D-Day Landings and from the Battle of Britain to the sinking of the Montevideo Maru. 612 of our staff are known to have died while 294 were held as prisoners of war or civilian internees and 241 are known to have been decorated.

On the home front the remaining staff took on the work of their absent colleagues along with additional civil duties while living under the threat of air raids and the privations of war time shortages. To complement our section on World War One, Aviva has set up these pages to recognise their important contributions.