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29 December 2013

Remember the Second Great Fire of London

Though London had already been subjected to months of raids beginning on 7th September 1940, the night of 29th December 1940 saw one of the worst air raids of the Second Worl War, with 24,000 high explosive bombs and 100,000 incendiary bombs dropped on London, causing some of the most comprehensive destruction of the war Islington to the very edge of St Paul's Churchyard.


Though many other historic buildings and churches suffered serious damage we are told that Winston Churchill had ordered that St Paul's be saved at all costs. This could be one reason why the area just south of the Cathedral was chosen as the location for the National Firefighters Memorial in 1991. There is certainly much to be thankful to these people for, in terms of preserving the history and fabric of London as we see it today.

For more, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Great_Fire_of_London

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous29 December 2013 at 14:31

    this is where usain bolt got his pose from

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hels29 December 2013 at 22:45

    I wondered what the second Great Fire of London was going to be... of course ... December 1940. The Germans could not have created more devastation and horror than obliterating that part of a densely populated city. And its historical architecture.

    ReplyDelete

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