Trail of Flame Across London

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 157, 31 December 1940, Page 7

Trail of Flame Across London

DELIBERATE ATTEMPT TO FIRE THE CITY

(By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyrlght.l LONDON, December^. The Germans tonight carried out one of the severelstfrai&3 of the war on London, dropping tens of thousands of bombs, including incendiaries, on. almost every section of the metropolitan area. Explosive bombs hit a town hall, a museum, two hospitals, and two churches. The fires taxed the emergency services to the utmost. The all-clear sounded shortly before midnight. (Received December 31, 9 a.m.) LONDON, December 30. ■■■■ An Air Ministry communique states: "The enemy last night dropped a large number of incendiary bombs on the City of London in a deliberate attempt to set it on fire. Damage was done to many famous buildings, including the Guildhall and several city churches. St. Paul's Cathedral was endangered but neighbouring fires were extinguished in time. There was nowhere any attempt to single out targets of military importance. Fires were also caused in other parts of the London area, and commercial buildings were damaged. The fire services worked heroically and successfully all night. Casualties were few.'*

Large areas of London were converted into a blazing inferno as successive waves of bombers lit a bril-

liant trail across the capital. There was a pandemonium of noise, the swish of falling bombs, the crackle of incendiaries, deafening detonations of high-explosive bombs and the bass boom of the defending guns combining to make a hellish cacophony. The blackout became superfluous, fires illuminating the streets and enabling newspapers to be read in the glare.

From the top of a building in a busy area seventeen fires were visible within a radius of a quarter of a mile. These included a famous Wren church, which the Auxiliary Fire Service workers were unable to save. As one fire was got under control another started. Fam-

as vast areas presented a dazzling target. There was no news of tha weather on the Continent, and the only explanation is that the Germans became land-bound after the early hours of the night and that the heavy bombers were unable to follow the success of the planes which dropped incendiary bombs.