The county was subject to aerial bombardment and contained various military establishments,
such as RAF Uxbridge and RAF Heston, which were involved in the Battle of Britain.
The Araki, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester were the London establishments to hold on their accolades,
as did Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck and Alain Roux's Waterside Inn,
both in Bray.
According to the 1961 census, Ealing, Enfield, Harrow, Hendon, Heston & Isleworth,
Tottenham, Wembley, Willesden and Twickenham had each reached a population greater than 100,000, which would normally have entitled each of them to seek county borough status.