GREAT FIRES IN LONDON

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 December 1940, Page 7

GREAT FIRES IN LONDON

THOUSANDS OF INCENDIARIES CITY AREA SUFFERS HEAVILY GUILDHALL DAMAGED [by CABLE. —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] x

■ ■ LONDON, December 30. v Last night the Germans tried to set fire to. London. When' the people went- to work this morning they passed smouldering buildings, and some of the fires were still burning. Though it lasted only a few hours, the raid was one of the most intense yet made. The Air Ministry confirms the impression that it was a deliberate attempt to set fire to the city. Though the enemy did not' attempt to attack any specific objective, they damaged the Guildhall and some historic churches. The raiders were counter-attacked by Royal Air Force night fighters, which swept up after the heavy anti-aircraft barrage.The fighters saved at least one area from the high explosives which the Germans usually drop after starting fires. ■ The attack began immediately after dark. Tens of thousands of bombs, including incendiaries, were rained down on almost every section of the metropolitan area. Dozens, of fires were set blazing, illuminating the streets. The fires taxed the emergency services to the utmost of their capacity. Explosive bombs hit a town hall, a museum, two hospitals and two churches. The all clear was sounded shortly before midnight. The Air Ministry says that m spite of heavy damage to shops and offices the casualties were few. The indiscriminate nature of the attack suggests that the Nazis are still floundering about, with no fixed policy to meet the systematic raiding of the Royal Air Forpe._ OFFICIAL REPORT LONDON, December 30. The Air Ministry in a communique states: Enemy air raiders on Sunday night dropped a large number of incendiary bombs on the City of London in a deliberate attempt to set the city on fire. Damage has been done to many famous buildings, including the Guildhall, and to several city churches. St. Paul’s Cathedral was endangered by neighbouring fires. These, however, were extinguished m time. There was nowhere any attempt to single out targets of military importance. Fires were also caused in other parts of the London area. Commeicial buildings were damaged. The fire services worked heroically, and successfully all night long. The casualties were few.

BLAZING BUILDINGS TOPPLE LONDON, December 3,0. Large areas of London on Sunday night were converted into a blazing inferno, as successive waves of German bombers lit a brilliant trail across the capital.' There was a pandemonium of noise, with the swish of bombs, the deafening detonations of high explosive bombs, and the bass boom of the defending guns. All these combined to make a hellish cacaphony. The black-out became superfluous. The fires were illuminating streets to such an extent as to enable newspapers to be read in the glare. From the top of one building in a busy area there were seventeen fires visible with a radius of a quarter of a mile, the fires including a famous Wren church, which the A.F.S. men were unable to save. As soon as one fire was controlled, another had started. Famous landmarks stood out in spectral relief against the glare and flare of the flames. It was a terrible macabre scene, possessing a horrifying fascination. The buildings blazed, and then they toppled down like giant trees. One high explosive bomb killed 80 horses in a brewery stable. Another one hit a church, under which there were four hundred people sheltering, but there were no casualties. Several London boroughs have reported casualties. Victims were trapped in the debris. At the height of the raid, the heavy anti-aircraft fire died down. British fighter planes swept into an attack.

There was a short intensive battle.' Then the raiders temporarily disappeared, but they returned for spasmodic bombing. i A surprising lull came after three hours. The Luftwaffe’s tactics were then baffling, as vast areas presented a dazzling target. There has been no news of the weather on the Continent, but the only explanation is that the Germans were landbound after the early hours of the night, and that their heavy ’bombers were unable to follow the success of the planes which dropped the incendiary bombs. FAMOUS CHURCHES RUINED, i RUGBY, December 30. ! Saint Bride’s Church, in a courtyard off Fleet Street, was set alight early in last night’s raid on London. Only blackened walls and the magnificent tapering tower and spire, generally regarded'as one of Wren’s masterpieces, now remain. This slender spire was originally 234 feet high, but later was lowered by eight feet. It is one of the most-impres-sive features of London’s skyline. Voluntary helpers worked splendidly to subdue the flames and salve the furnishings, but almost as soon as they left the building the roof crashed in. Another Wren church which was completely destroyed last night was Saint Vedast Foster. It was one of the less-important of the 50 churches which Wren rebuilt after the Great Fire. . Irreparable loss has been suffered by another Wren church, Saint Lawrence Jewry, by the side of the Guildhall (the New Zealanders’ Church), owing to the destruction of : some of the most-beautiful and valuable wood carving of the celebrated . Grinling Gibbons-, which formed part i of its decoration. Another Wren church, which repf resented one of his most-striking ex- [ periments in.-the adaption of Gothic [• design to the classical impulse, that i of Saint Mary Aldermary, has been reduced to a shell by last night’s raid,

; and yet another church, Saint An-drew-by-tho-Wardrobe, shared a similar fate. Three hospitals, one museum, several schools, commercial premises, •shops and offices were more or less [ seriously damaged in the fires last night. I The highest tributes were paid today to the skill and daring displayed by regular and auxiliary firemen, in successfully dealing with the fires, which; put their services to the se- ! verest test. ' Some buildings were dynamited to ' prevent the fires spreading. Many j buildings in Cheapside were wrecked. Incendiaary bombs burnt through the 1 lead roofing of Saint Paul’s. The « banquet hall of the Guildhall was set I alight. I j “SPOTTERS’ ” GOOD WORK. ; LONDON, December 30. [ R.A.F. fighters last night battled [ with the German planes which subi jected one area of London to an in- . tense attack, and one of the greatest • fire-raising raids since the outbreak •of the war. Serious damage in this : area was caused by a number of I fires. Some burned for hours after I the “raiders passed” signal was ;sounded. i Churches, hospitals, and commer- ; cial premises were the target of the I Luftwaffe, which left part of London I overhung with great palls of smoke, ; as building after building went up. in : flames. Ari army of firemen, wari dens, workers and civilian volunteers I battled with the thousand ir.cen- ■ diaries showered on the district, but j as fast as they overcame one batch. i the air was filled with the swish and I crackle of more Molotov breadbask- ! ets, dozens of which were dropped in j about half an hour. The fighters appeared to have sav- | ed at least one area from'many exi plosives, of which remarkably few I were dropped. ! London roof-watchers proved their I worth as never before. Buildings in this district which had spotters and i their own A.R.P. personnel were soon ; freed from incendiaries, without 1 damage. Spotters also did valuable I work in directing the firemen to fire- | bombs on roofs hidden from the i streets. ] Regular and auxiliary firemen ' braved intense heat and falling walls. • Many had miraculous escapes, but i others died at their job. Some were ! killed or injured when buildings col|lapsed. v

I ST. PAUL’S NARROW ESCAPE OLD BAILEY DAMAGED. LONDON, December 30. Women driving ambulances, took the injured to first-aid posts, and laj ter to hospital. I At least two churches in this area, 1 one of which Wren built, were destroyed. There was a time when it 'seemed that one area was ringed by : fire. Great white-hot flames lapped greedily round the buildings, although hundreds of men worked desperately to stem the advancing tide of fire. The fiercest fires occurred in old buildings, used as offices. Modern | buildings withstood the onslaught. ■ St. Paul’s escape was amazing. Buildings within a stone’s throw still blazed and crackled as daylight appeared. St. Paul’s itself was surrounded with a seemingly inextricable mass of coiling hosepipes, fire-engines, and-trailer pumps dotted about Ludgate Hill. St. Paul’s Churchyard was aglow with the fierce burning of several devastated buildings. ■. Cheapside, nearby, presented a ] nightmare scene* Building after building had been reduced to a scarred and blackened shell. i One city church damaged was St. Stephen’s, Coleman Street. Most of the treasures in the Guildhall had previously been removed to safety, otherwise they would have been destroyed. The old banqueting hall and the Council Chamber were m flames. The Old Bailey was damaged. I The Lord Mayor (Sir George Wilkinson) spent the night visiting firemen and A.R.P. members. 1 There were amazing scenes this morning at the junction of London Wall, where crowds of typists and city ; workers appealed for directions from policemen, who advised alternative routes to business. Fore Street, adjoining London Wall, was closed, because it was filled with a mass of masonry. Streets around were littered

with glass and debris. MR. CHURCHILL’S INSPECTION. RUGBY, December 30. In last night’s flagrantly indiscriminate attack on London, states an official communique, there was nowhere any attempt to single out targets of military importance. Some of the city’s most-historic buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged. Much of this damage was seen -by the Prime Minister and Mrs. Churchill, when they visited the scene toqay. When their presence became known, they were accompanied by a great crowd of cheering Londoners. “Good old Winston! Give it to them back, and remember we can take what we have had, and more!” was shouted by city workers. Firemen and demolition squads rested from their labours, to cheer Mr. and Mrs. Churchill. z No fewer than six'famous churches were set on fire. The ancient hall of the -Girdlers’ Company was wrecked. Saint Paul’s Cathedral was hit byincendiary bombs, but,was saved by the prompt, use of stirrup pumps by the Cathedral staff. Incendiaries which fell on the roof, of the Guildhall were similarly extinguished, but later flames from the burning Church of Saint Laurence Jewry spread across the small courthouse, which remained undamaged, and set fire to the roof of the Guildhall, with disastrous results to the building, which was erected between 1411 and 1435, and to the cost of which the famous Lord Mayor, Sir Richard Whittington—“Turn again, Whittington,” of nursery rhymecontributed. It was named the Guildhall because the medieval Guilds nj-et there.