The Second Great Fire of London in December 1940 was caused by one of the most destructive air raids of

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

during World War II. The

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

raid caused fires over an area greater than that of the Great Fire of London in 1666, leading one American correspondent to say in a cable to his office that "The second Great Fire of London has begun". Fires started by the raid included an

incendiary bomb Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, t ...

that broke through the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, which was being guarded by a fire watch team at the behest of the Prime Minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

Attack

On the night of 29–30 December 1940, approximately 100,000 (mostly small incendiary) bombs fell on the city. The Germans dispatched 136

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

s to the city. Fewer incendiaries were dropped than in the raids of 15 November or 8 December. The raid was focused on a part of the city that contained many non-residential buildings, such as churches, offices, and warehouses. Many of these were locked and were not covered by the Fire Watchers Order of September 1940, which applied to places of work with at least 30 employees, warehouses with an area of and

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

s or timber yards with more than 50,000 cubic feet of

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

Incendiary bombs Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...

were the main armament that night. Moderately small, at —each bomber was equipped with approximately 180 of them—the bombs carried

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...

and started fires. The raid saw 1,500 fires begin in the city.

Firefighting

A House Collapsing on Two Firemen, Shoe Lane, London, EC4 (Art

Firefighters' efforts were hampered by a water shortage. The primary water-main in the City was bomb-fractured. Units trying to get water from other hydrants caused the

water pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and e ...

to drop. Efforts to draw water from the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

were hampered by the low tide. The fire brigade's difficulties were further exacerbated by wind, combined with the concentrated area of the attack. Twelve of the 160 people killed in the raid were firefighters, while 250 were injured. Artist Leonard Rosoman was serving with the

Auxiliary Fire Service The Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) was first formed in 1938 in Great Britain as part of the Civil Defence Service. Its role was to supplement the work of brigades at local level. The Auxiliary Fire Service and the local brigades were superseded ...

on the night of the raid. While fighting a fire in Shoe Lane, Rosoman was relieved of his hose. Moments later a wall collapsed, burying the two firefighters working where Rosoman had just been. The moment haunted Rosoman for the rest of his life. He immortalised the scene in his painting ''A House Collapsing on Two Firemen, Shoe Lane, London, EC4.''

William Sansom William Norman Trevor Sansom FRSL (18 January 1912 – 20 April 1976) was a British novelist, travel and short story writer known for his highly descriptive prose style. Profile Sansom was born in London, the third son of Ernest Brooks Sans ...

, a friend of Rosoman's who would go on to become a novelist and travel writer, survived the incident. The fireman who relieved Rosoman of his hose was killed. Sam Chauveau of the London Fire Brigade described the scene that faced the fire fighters:

St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral and the immediate area was struck by 28 incendiary bombs. Prime Minister

sent the message that "St Paul's must be saved at all costs". A famous photograph, '' St Paul's Survives'', was taken from the roof of the '' Daily Mail'' building (Northcliffe House on Carmelite Street) by Herbert Mason. Mason was the chief photographer at the ''Daily Mail'', and was on the roof firewatching when he took the picture. Mason described the moment he created the photograph: The camera is believed to have been a Van Neck on a quarter plate glass negative. The Royal Photographic Society magazine ''Photographic Journal'', remarked on the brightness of the scene, saying that "The light that was available for an instantaneous exposure is an indication of the fierceness and extent of the fire." Volunteers serving as part of the St Paul's Watch patrolled the iconic building. The Watch was first put together during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Then it was meant to protect the building from German

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

raids. With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the group was reconstituted to guard against the anticipated air raids. American correspondent

Ernie Pyle Ernest Taylor Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945) was a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist and war correspondent who is best known for his stories about ordinary American soldiers during World War II. Pyle is also notable for the ...

observed the raid from a balcony:

Aftermath

The publishing industry bore heavy losses in the raid.

Ave Maria Lane Ave Maria Lane is a street in the City of London, to the west of St. Paul's Cathedral. It is the southern extension of Warwick Lane, between Amen Corner and Ludgate Hill. On the feastday of Corpus Christi, monks would say prayers in a proces ...

and

Paternoster Row Paternoster Row was a street in the City of London that was a centre of the London publishing trade, with booksellers operating from the street. Paternoster Row was described as "almost synonymous" with the book trade. It was part of an area cal ...

, an area known since the 19th century as the centre of the London publishing and book trade, were badly hit, and the buildings and stock of 20 publishing houses were totally or partially destroyed. Stationers' Hall, neighbouring offices, the book wholesalers Simpkin Marshall, and several bookshops were lost. An estimated five million books were

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

in the fires caused by tens of thousands of incendiary bombs.

References

External links