In June 1940 Lom was one of many German-speaking refugees, reclassified as enemy aliens and interned at Huyton, a recently completed housing estate outside Liverpool. This suburban scene is probably a depiction of the Huyton camp, where Lom's fellow internees included fellow emigre artists Hugo Dachinger, Walter Nessler and Samson Schames, who all also produced works within the camp. Shortly after his release, Lom published an illustrated autobiographical account of his internment, 'Never Mind, Mr Lom' (Macmillan, 1941) with a cover design of a figure silhouetted against coils of barbed wire.