| Saint Paul’s Cathedral was struck twice, on October 10, 1940, and April 17, 1941. he 1st strike destroyed the high altar, while the 2nd strike on the north transept left a hole in the floor above the crypt. On September 12, 1940, a time-delayed bomb that had struck the cathedral was successfully defused and removed by a bomb disposal detachment of Royal Engineers under the command of Temporary Lieutenant Robert Davies (October 3, 1900 – September 27, 1975). The bomb was lodged 27 feet deep in Deans Yard (close to the west end of the cathedral) and took 3 days to dig out. It was placed on 2 lorries (trucks), joined in tandem, and Davies drove it through deserted streets to Hackney Marshes where it was safely destroyed. Had this bomb detonated, it would have totally destroyed the cathedral; it left a 100-foot (30 meter) crater when later remotely detonated in a secure location. The Guardian, December 9, 1946: “In the late war, London’s loss of most of Wren’s City churches seemed like a ransom it had to pay for the preservation of Saint Paul’s, for the resources in skill, leadership, organization, and equipment that saved the cathedral were not there for those other precious fabrics when the incendiary bombs poured on the city. That Saint Paul’s was not destroyed in the war and now should ride the skies over London for centuries to come we owe to two things: to the foresight and inspiration of the Dean and the rare skill, organizing power, and resource of Mr. Godfrey Allen, the surveyor, and to the whole gallant Watch of Saint Paul’s, of which Mr. Allen was the leader; and to the great scheme of reconstruction and repair of 1923 to 1930 which made the fabric fit to withstand the shocks and blows of the ferocious air invasion of the war. The cathedral was hit twice by five-hundred-pound high-explosive bombs and by about fifty incendiaries, one of which stuck in the outer dome but was dislodged and fell into the Stone Gallery when the lead of the dome was beginning to melt. Had the lead melted and run the inner dome structure of timbers would quickly have been affected, and then nothing would have saved the cathedral. Around it are burnt spaces and ruins of buildings that include famous churches and City Company halls, still a woeful sight, from that second Great Fire of London. Most of these destroyed churches and halls were built to replace those that went in the Great Fire of 1666.” | |
| Image Filename | wwii1835.jpg |
| Image Size | 163.09 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1036 x 1299 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 1, 1941 |
| Location | |
| City | London |
| State or Province | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
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| 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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