LONDON, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Over 300 photos of Liverpool during the second World War are exhibited for the first time, revealing the devastation of the British most bombed provincial city by Nazi German.

The photos, taken by the Liverpool City Police from 1940 to 1941 and archived for years, are displayed in a two-year exhibition opened Thursday at the Museum of Liverpool.

"Our hope is young people, who may not even be aware of the devastation and impact on Liverpool, will see for themselves what happened here in our city," Kay Jones, the exhibition curator from National Museums Liverpool, a group of free museums and galleries, told reporters.

The port city was a vital link for supplies shipped from North America across the Atlantic, making it a key target for the Nazi German war machine.

It suffered the second highest number of civilian deaths in air raids in the country, only after London. Around 2,700 civilians in the city and more than 1,300 in surrounding areas were killed, according to Jones.

Over 10,000 city homes were destroyed and 70,000 people became homeless when the air raids peaked in May 1941. However, due to censorship during the war, reports didn't tell the whole story.

"These striking images of desolation really bring home what the city and its people went through. They reveal many stories of personal tragedy but also the resilience of local people," said Jones earlier.