| On August 24, 1940, Luftwaffe bombers accidentally bombed the area of London known as Cripplegate, close by a gate in the ancient Roman wall. The damage was minor in comparison to later attacks, but it had a great psychological impact—the 1st attack on London, and on a civilian area to boot— and Churchill ordered a retaliatory attack on Berlin for the following day, in part to embarrass Herman Goring, who had publicly announced that the Royal Air Force (RAF) was incapable to bombing Berlin: “If one enemy bomb falls to Berlin, you can call me ‘Meyer.’” (For this reason, later in the war hard-hit Berliners referred to air raid warning sirens as “Meyer’s trumpets.”) Cripplegate, as the area was formerly known, was effectively erased from the map on the evening of December 29, 1940, when tens of thousands of bombs and incendiaries were dropped on the city by the Luftwaffe. Hardly a building was left standing in this part of town. Saint Giles-without-Cripplegate Church was much more severely damaged during this attack. There was a direct hit on the north door in the summer of 1940, and the following December the church was showered with so many incendiary bombs that even the cement caught alight. All that remained was the shell, the arcade in the chancel, the outside walls, and the tower. That these survived says much for the medieval architects. Although the roof, the furnishings, and most of the monuments were destroyed, some valuable items were saved. These include the Church Registers, dating from 1561 and which are now held at the London Metropolitan Archives. Other saved items include 2 oil paintings of previous vicars – 1 of which, of Dr William Nicholls, is on display under the tower – our silverware and vestments, and the 19th-century brass eagle lectern, which you can see in the chancel, a memorial to Bishop Andrewes. These had been stored away in the muniment or archive room, which was separated from the main body of the church by only a few feet, but which escaped all the bombs. Around the windows on the north wall of the church, the inside stonework has been left blackened to show the effect of the incendiary bombs. The bombing of Cripplegate in 1940 was so extensive that barely any buildings remained standing in the entire ward. By 1951, only 48 people were registered as living within the ward. It was this widespread devastation that led planners to envisage and eventually build the modern Barbican estate and arts centre, starting in 1965. There is a collection of photographs showing Saint Giles’ and the Cripplegate area during and after the 2nd World War on the display boards in the southwest corner of the church. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0289.jpg |
| Image Size | 5.73 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 4758 x 6080 |
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| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 1, 1941 |
| Location | Cripplegate |
| City | London |
| State or Province | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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