London Fire Raids (1941)

[Music] on the night of Sunday the 29th of December 1940 from shortly after 6:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. the German air force carried out one of the most de ating fire racing rates of the war continuously for 4 and 1 half hours their main target was an area particularly vulnerable to fire the city of London an area that has often taxed the considerable resources of the London fire brigade even in peace time these scenes reminiscent of the Great Fire of London nearly three centuries ago were taken from the roof of St Paul they embraced the area from PA Paul's churchard to Newgate Street Panos row AR Maria Lane and the station is called ging boasted that his Lu buffer dropped 100,000 incend bombs on the city this night besides lows of H and it may well be that this is one of the few of his boats that is a true one in fighting the FES 16 femen were killed 11 by high explosive bombs and by Falling wall the injured numbered over 250 fighting the fars were no fewer than 1,500 appan including 100t steel water towels pumps toes lores water units petrol wagons and other special appliances every one of these appliances was controlled throughout the night and ordered to its correct destination by the central control room working in collaboration with its subsidiary District controls from dist a heavy in boming has occur in the city area many large are ined andly all available appearances have been ordered off order 50 pumps from the control churchard 50 pumps from the aest field all report to control points 100 pumps from the e to F station to stand by all available turntable ladders were ordered onto the fars and throughout the night these ladder men worked 100 ft above the street among falling bombs and the intense heat rising from the burning building one of the many historic buildings attack the Parish Church of Florence jury where a service is held just before the election of the Lord mayor of London at the Guild Hall and bride's Church in Fleet Street one of the most beautiful of Ren's masterpieces suffered badly and little more than the bare shell now remains no water system yet devised will supply the quantity of water required to extinguish a concentration of this size and most of it had to be relayed from the river temps up to a mile away was made all the more difficult by the fact that it was dead low water at the time that the relaying Crews had to get their hose ashore across the treacherous muds and fireboats lying in midstream for hose laying lores each carrying 6,000 ft of 3 and 1/2 in hose laid out relay lines at the rate of 20 mph the spread of fire through the narrow streets was helped by a strong Southwest wind with the tremendous drop caused by the fire itself in places the Flames race down the street as fast as a man could run the areas affected consisted mainly of shop and Warehouse property too small to come within the scope of the regulations enforcing a system of fire protection most of the buildings contained valuable stock they were securely locked and bolted and only a few had caretakers on duty to deal with bars in their early stages or to open up the heavy doors to the farm space in the city had been so valuable in past years that small Courtyards at the back of many warehouses had been roofed with glass and filled with inflammable material that made them fatally easy targets for incend bomb as well as the Raging Inferno you see here now nearly 1,500 other fires were dealt with and London alone on this same night radiated heat from the burning streets threatened important buildings on the edge of the fire area and started many incipient Firs in the window frames and other vulnerable places making it necessary to put up water curtains protect them and stop the spread of the fire on streets such as these sparman emerged with hands and faces so badly scorched and burned that several skin grafting operations were necessary the appliances at the fars were directed and coordinated by mobile control Vans which kept in touch with the control room by Dispatch Riders who did invaluable work after telephone Communications had been damaged when one of these ladders received a direct hit from a high explosive bomb the upper extension broke away and lodged on the roof the only survivor of the crew of three was the man at the top although he was very severely injured [Music] throughout the night fan fought the fars hoping that one day the Royal Air Force would bring similar configurations to German cities Bars were also raiding across the river in s or as it is usually called the bar the large industrial district of warehouses Wares and factories adding more fuel to the all engulfing PR in spite of the great shortage of water and the high wind the fire was confined to the buildings you see here a fierce cutting wind caused streams of Sparks to fly among the fighters and dense volumes of ACD smoke almost chok them there were over 100 cases of conjunctivitis and other Islanders that needed urgent treatment for blazing gas M which must not be extinguished because of the danger of explosions from unignited gas collecting in basements cause fur the problems and necessitated protection for the buildings adjoining the crater the mains in this area normally give a pressure of over 40 lbs and supply enough water for several powerful fire engs but on this fateful night a trunk M had been fractured by high explosives and the tremendous amount of water drawn off for other fire left nothing but feeble Jets here again a lot of valuable time was taken up in relaying water from the stems and other static sources in the damaged streets pitted with new craters and blocked by debris sum plers came to grief before reaching their a lotted destination vital water Ms were blasted by a high explosive and thousands of Sprints and branches paress to check the Flames wasted water which turned into the steam almost as soon as it was ejected from the sprinkler head the fire was stopped at the Old Bailey by morning every flow is in hand so the streets affected presented a scene of tragic desolation the magnitude of the task confronting the fire service can be gauged by the fact that if all the pumps engaged had been able to work to full capacity not less than 600,000 gallons of water per minute would have been required the Guild Hall with its fine banqueting Chambers and frescoed walls was severely damaged and the nearby Church of St Lawrence jury was almost destroyed [Music] White Cross Street in the city was a veritable death trap Dey was everywhere both ends of the street were blocked the water mans were empty and their fances had to be abandoned the men had to make their getaway over the Railway Bridge and there were many narrow escapes thousands of lengths of Hose must be collected cleaned dried and rowed on the appliances ready for the raid which may follow tonight the night of this great fire was a time of severe trial for the men of the fire service the Brigade pays is prate to their work and Mourns the loss of so many of its [Music] comrades goodbye farman we will finish the job for you however many of our stations are bombed and broken up our spirit will never be broken look out Hitler we saved the Old Bailey that [Music] night