LONDON’S SCARS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 110, 13 May 1941, Page 5

LONDON’S SCARS

: FIERY BLIZZARD OF BOMBS | SATURDAY NIGHT’S RAID j SILHOUETTE OF ST. PAUL’S AGAINST THE DAWN ! London, May 11. i Goering’s vandals made another attempt last night to wipe out London. It was a fiery blizzard of golden sparks—the most awe-in-spiring spectacle that has ever been seen in the world's greatest capital. It was an inferno. Blazing buildings stood out in stark relief. Tongues of flame leaped from buildings which had survived previous raids, and through gaping windows fresh areas of wanton destruction were revealed. London was bathed tn a golden glow. The raid is described by eyewitnesses as easily the worst London has yet filtered. The fire-fighters again performed deeds of unbounded heroism. Perched on the swaying tops of turntable fire escapes, with tongues of flame licking around them, they' fought grimly to bring outbreaks of fire under control. St. Paul's was silhouetted against the dawn as a witness of an outrage as dastardly as any in this dastardly war.

MORBID AND CURIOUS SIGHTSEERS TO WITNESS LONDON’S AGONY DEFENCE WORKERS HINDERED. (Recd. 6.40 p.m.) London, May 11. Crowds of sightseers, walking in an endless procession throughout the day among the damaged streets, hindered civil defence workers and endangered their own lives. Several were injured, some seriously, by masonry falling from tottering buildings. Most of the sightseers came from the suburbs. The morbidly curious crowded out the few restaurants which wer open and kept out men and women who had been fighting the flames all night, and overburdened the transport services. Some even toured the bombed areas in taxis. Several streets, although not dangerous, were roped off to allow the defence workers to carry on civil defence. An official said there were even cases of sightseers from the suburbs gate-crashing the free food kitchens put up for the people bombed out of their homes.—U.P.A.

HISTORIC BUILDINGS MANY HAVE BEEN DAMAGED HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY WOUNDED. "BIG BEN” STILL CHIMES ON Rugby, May 11. Among the historic buildings damaged in the indiscriminate “blitz” on London last night were: The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the British Museum. In the House of Lords several men were killed while trying to put out fires. The Debating Chamber of the House of Commons was reduced to ruins, and the roof of the famous members’ lobby, which was damaged previously, was smashed. The roof of Westminster Hall, one of the most magnificent in the world, was pierced by bombs and the interior damaged.

Big Ben was hit by a high-explos-ive bomb. It still chimes the hour, though its face is blackened and scarred. Damage was done to the masonry just above the clock. Westminster Abbey is open to the sky, the roof in the centre having fallen in. The pulpit was partly destroyed, but the most historic part escaped destruction. The Deanery of Westminster Abbey was damaged. An official of Westminster Abbey said that the building was saved from total destruction by the heroism of firemen and fire-watchers. The walks in the Abbey cloisters are flooded, but the cloisters, like the rest of the fabric of the Abbey, are undamaged. Surface injury has been done to the Chapel of Henry VII., but the general structure is intact.

The British Museum was set alight, by incendiary bombs which fell through the roof.—B.O.W.

There are few buildings in England, probably, excepting the Tower, not one, that can compare with Westminster Abbey in historical interest. Originally built by Edward the Confessor, whose once bejewelled shrine is still at tjje back of the High Altar, it was rebuilt by Henry 111., in the The main part of the present buildearly part of the thirteenth century, ing dates from that period. The church is built in the form of a Latin cross, the architecture of the rave, choir and transepts being early English. In the choir, and immediately before the Great Altar, the Kings and Queens of England have been crowned since 1066. It. was on the site of the Abbey that William the Conqueror, who defeated Harold at Hastings, was made King in 1066. King George VI. and Queen Elizabeth were crowned in the Abbey on May 12, 1937. The Houses of Parliament (Westminster) are one of the finest and largest Gothic buildings in the world, and cover eight acres of ground. The Thames River facade is 940 feet in length and was completed in 1857 at a cost of £3,000,000, the architect being Sir Charles Barry. The most striking architectural feature of the Parliament. Houses are the two great towers. Housed in the St. Stephen Tower is the huge bell and when Parliament is sitting a Union Jackflies at the summit of the tower. Westminster Hall was built by William Rufus and rebuilt in the 13th. and 14th. century. In this hall were held the early English Parliaments, and here, down to George IV., the English Monarchs held their coronation festivals. Memorable State trials have been held I here, including