The Second Great Fire of London
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The night of 29th/30 December 1940 was one of the most destructive air raids of the London Blitz, gutting or destroying many of the City's churches (including several by Sir Christopher Wren), destroying many Livery Halls and gutting the medieval Great Hall of the City's Guildhall.
This night was quickly dubbed 'The Second Great Fire of London' and destroyed an area arguably greater than that of the Great Fire of London of 1666. Some 1500 fires were started, including three major conflagrations. Whereas in 1666 the devastation was overwhelmingly within the City proper, in 1940, it extended far beyond. The largest continuous area of Blitz destruction anywhere in Britain occurred that night, stretching down from Islington to the very edge of St Paul's Churchyard. St Paul's Cathedral itself was only saved by the dedication of its volunteer firewatchers and by the London firemen who fought to keep the flames from spreading to its roofs.
[edit] Aftermath
Although the 'Second Great Fire of London' has been almost forgotten among the raids that happened later in the war (including the much more deadly Dresden raid), it is commemorated in one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century, taken from the roof of the Daily Mail building by Herbert Mason, in which the dome of St Paul's Cathedral rises above clouds of black smoke.
[edit] References
Gaskin M. J. Blitz: The Story of 29th December 1940, (Faber, 2005).
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