DEMONIAC FURY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 2 January 1941, Page 4

DEMONIAC FURY

WELL might Mr Churchill have looked grim and determined as he surveyed the ruins of the Guildhall and those other famous and beautiful buildings in the heart of London so wantonly destroyed by Nazi fire from the air. The anger which Londoners shared with him when they cried, “Give it to them back!” will be felt by civilised people everywhere who resent the despoliation of beautiful things. In their lust for destruction the Nazis selected that famous square mile of London known as “The City.” The Guildhall, home of London’s City Fathers for centuries and venue of some of the grandest scenes in the history of England, has been reduced to a shell. Built so long ago that nobody seems to know just when, it survived the Great Fire of 1666, though damaged, but it has been unable to withstand Nazi incendiary bombs. Masterpieces of the ecclesiastical architecture of Sir Christopher Wren, like St. Bride’s, off Fleet Street, St. Lawrence Jewry and St. Mary Aldermary have either been gutted or severely damaged. The cruel blitz also claimed hospitals, schools, a museum, and commercial premises as its victims; the ancient hall of the Girdlers’ Company was wrecked; St. Paul’s was again hit and again saved by brave action; Nazi fury was also visited on the criminal court of Old Bailey and Trinity House.

In these outrages there can be no pretence of seeking for military objectives. This latest attack was a deliberate attempt to set the oldest and most historic part of London afire. To a large extent it succeeded but how will the Nazis secure any advantage from this sort of thing? They are only making the British angrier and the main result must be the uprising of resentment in the hearts of British people and demands for retribution. From the purely military angle the Allied policy of directing air attack only at military objectives may be fully justified by results but the Nazi fury is now taking such a demoniac form that a large body of Empire public opinion must be feeling like echoing the exhortation of Londoners to their Prime Minister.