29th December 1940 "Second Great Fire of London"

On the evening of 29th December 1940 a German bombing raid caused what become known as the ‘Second Great Fire of London’. The attack targeted the City of London where the high explosive and incendiary bombs started a firestorm that destroyed an area greater than that devastated by the Great Fire of 1666.
Honours and awards
The attack cost the lives of over 160 civilians and 14 firemen and resulted in 44 awards for gallantry – more than for any other single event during the blitz in World War 2. The awards were 1 MBE, 8 George Medals, 22 British Empire Medals and 13 Commendations for Brave Conduct.
The target of the raid was north of the Thames but the Borough of Southwark – south of the river – suffered grievously too. At 7.30pm the air-raid shelter on Keyworth Street was hit and destroyed. Thirteen civilians were killed and of the many injured several were trapped by debris and had to wait until rescue crews dug them out hours later.

Signalman Robert Tinto, a former GPO telegraph linesman from Maryhill in Glasgow, was one of a number of men stationed nearby who went out to help with the rescue. He crawled into the shelter through a small hole and with the rescue crew working immediately above him; he dug with his bare hands to get to four trapped civilians. For four hours he then remained with them, reassuring them and administering morphine to the badly injured. The rescue crew, meanwhile, attempted to move a large slab of concrete from above where he had tunnelled, which, had it fallen, would have had ‘disastrous results’.

Honours and awards
The attack cost the lives of over 160 civilians and 14 firemen and resulted in 44 awards for gallantry – more than for any other single event during the blitz in World War 2. The awards were 1 MBE, 8 George Medals, 22 British Empire Medals and 13 Commendations for Brave Conduct.

The award of the George Medal to Signalman Tinto was published in the London Gazette on 27 May 1941. After the war, Robert Tinto remained in the Army and by 1959; he was the Squadron Sergeant Major of 234 Signal Squadron in Malta. He died in 2003 in Dunbar, East Lothian, aged 87.
On this day 29th December | Royal Signals Museum


The city ablaze the second great fire of London 29th December 1940

 

Watch London Fire Raids 29th-30th December 1940 - BFI Player

 

St Paul's Survives is a photograph taken in London during the night air raid of 29–30 December 1940, the 114th night of the Blitz of World War II. It shows St Paul's Cathedral, illuminated by fires and surrounded by the smoke of burning buildings. It was taken by photographer Herbert Mason in the early hours of 30 December, from the roof of Northcliffe House, the offices of the Daily Mail newspaper, on Tudor Street, close to Fleet Street.[1]

The photograph has become a symbol of British resilience and courage, and is considered one of the iconic images of the Blitz. It became "instantly famous", and turned the Cathedral into "a symbol of togetherness, survival and suffering".[2] The raid during which the photograph was shot became known as the "Second Great Fire of London": more than 160 people died, over 500 were injured, and hundreds of buildings were destroyed.[3]
St Paul's Survives - Wikipedia

 

Gets a mention here... *

1940. Downs Sets Off for London

January 3, 1941
(From London)
dear mom dad and bonnie lee —
I suppose you are wondering what happened to me on the December 29th big raid—and outside of a lot of excitement, I have little to report. It really was something I'll never forget—the whole sky lit up by flames and the sad spectacle of all those lovely buildings going up in flames. It's such a damn wanton destruction that infuriates you. But I'll never forget it.
The winters here remind me of Kansas City—they're that cold. But I'm living comfortably and well fed. New Year's Eve was one of the quietest I've spent in years. I was in bed by 11:30 because of nothing to do and saw the new year in reading a book. Actually, this blackout is very good on the morals, the pocketbook, and the constitution. I'm drinking less than I have in years and working harder. American women admittedly have more on the ball, it seems. But I'll scare up somethings. The theaters start their last shows at 5:30 PM so I have little opportunity to see them getting off later than that from work.
I work six days a week, of course, with my day off changed so far every week. They are pretty nice about shifting working hours around, and it works out that I won't be on any steady day or night track, I don't believe. I'm practically editor for the whole of Europe. Consequently I'm spending plenty of time reading up on my history and economics and such stuff. After I get that taken care of, I think maybe I'll study some French—it really comes in handy. I'm saving some money to buy myself a suit. I can get a good one for about $40—hand tailored with some of that fine English wool that costs like hell in the States. It surely is a good feeling not to be in debt, and if I can I'm going to keep it that way. However, living is not a cheap proposition here—but I have little to spend it on. Consequently, I should be able to save something I was glad to get your letters—and trust that you had the traditional New Year's brawl in the basement. I also would like to know if you ever received the books. There were about $50 worth of them there and I hope they arrived okay.
We've had an air raid alarm virtually every night but there doesn't seem to be much activity except for that one bad night. We hear stories that Hitler is running out of ammunition after pouring so much across the channel without doing any good at all. Although this has never been confirmed, I wouldn't be surprised if it weren't true.
Thus far I only regret that someone hasn't told the English about central heating. There seem to be few buildings in the entire city that ever heard of it. But they do go in for hot water here, and the baths—usually in tubs three times the size of ours—are wonderful. And they still have to learn to make a pot of coffee Although they do have us beat all hollow on tea. They also have it all over us on courtesy. The thing that first struck me about the people here—and this includes the poor people as well as the rich and well educated, is that they are so nice to each other. There is none of the American curtness or rudeness about them. Things move a lot slower but they are a hell of a lot more pleasant. While America travels at about 60 miles per hour, they seem to go along at about 25 and get there just the same. I get a little vexed sometimes trying to get service in a bar or restaurant, but when you finally do get waited on, they are so nice about it that there's nothing you can say.
I've got some work to do now and will close this off—but write soon and tell me all the gossip.
Love,
Bill

* About - Bill Downs, War Correspondent

 

On this day 29th December | Royal Signals Museum

On the 29th December 1940 Signalman Robert Tinto’s bravery earned him the George Medal
On the evening of 29 December 1940 a German bombing raid caused what become known as the ‘Second Great Fire of London’. The attack targeted the City of London where the high explosive and incendiary bombs started a firestorm that destroyed an area greater than that devastated by the Great Fire of 1666.

The target of the raid was north of the Thames but the Borough of Southwark – south of the river – suffered grievously too. At 7.30pm the air-raid shelter on Keyworth Street was hit and destroyed. Thirteen civilians were killed and of the many injured several were trapped by debris and had to wait until rescue crews dug them out hours later.

Signalman Robert Tinto, a former GPO telegraph linesman from Maryhill in Glasgow, was one of a number of men stationed nearby who went out to help with the rescue. He crawled into the shelter through a small hole and with the rescue crew working immediately above him; he dug with his bare hands to get to four trapped civilians. For four hours he then remained with them, reassuring them and administering morphine to the badly injured. The rescue crew, meanwhile, attempted to move a large slab of concrete from above where he had tunnelled, which, had it fallen, would have had ‘disastrous results’.


Honours and awards
The attack cost the lives of over 160 civilians and 14 firemen and resulted in 44 awards for gallantry – more than for any other single event during the blitz in World War 2. The awards were 1 MBE, 8 George Medals, 22 British Empire Medals and 13 Commendations for Brave Conduct.

The award of the George Medal to Signalman Tinto was published in the London Gazette on 27 May 1941. After the war, Robert Tinto remained in the Army and by 1959; he was the Squadron Sergeant Major of 234 Signal Squadron in Malta. He died in 2003 in Dunbar, East Lothian, aged 87.

 

The Second Great Fire Of London - 29th December 1940 - A London Inheritance


The German raid planned for the night of the 29th December was to feature an initial attack led by a specialist Pathfinder Squadron, followed by the first wave of bombers with mainly incendiary bombs and some high explosive to set the City alight, followed much later in the evening by the second wave of bombers with high explosive bombs. The clear intention was to destroy the City with key strategic targets being the bridges over the river, train stations and tracks and communications centres such as the Faraday building on Queen Victoria Street which was a centre for the London Telephony system and also for international telephony circuits.
The role of the Pathfinder squadron was to locate the target using a beam radio system where radio signals transmitted from the Continent would direct a plane to its target with a change in signal where beams crossed indicating a key geographic point to commence the attack.

The planes of the Pathfinder Squadron flew over the countryside between the coast and south London and on approaching Mitcham the signal changed indicating the point from where a carefully planned course and time would lead the planes directly to the centre of London.

This approach allowed for accurate bombing despite the heavy layers of cloud below. The aim of the Pathfinders was to start fires which the main bomber force could then follow.

At the planned time the bombers released canisters containing the incendiary bombs. On the drop down, the canisters then broke open to shower individual bombs over a wide radius.

The waves of the main bomber force then started to arrive, each loaded with canisters of incendiary bombs and the occasional high explosive bomb.

 

From the info I have, which is far from complete, my Great Uncle was a Fireman at Station 48, Auxiliary Fire Service, based at Denmark Hill School in Camberwell. I would imagine he would have been involved during these fires.

I find the NFS / AFS experience during the Second World War fascinating - I will never know what it was like storming the beaches on DDAY or fighting the Japanese in the Burmese jungle, but I do have a reasonable idea of how those Firemen would have been feeling in 1940/41 which brings me closer to them somehow.

 

Auxiliary Fire Service and National Fire Service Casualties WW2

 

Heroes each and every one of them. Sadly, the contribution made by the Fire Services is often overshadowed.

I sometimes think of the reasons men give when they leave for war - King, Country, mates, freedom etc. When they are away in distant lands, the impact of their sacrifice is not always apparent.

However, each time the men of the NFS responded to a raid, they were fighting on their own streets, for their own people. If Firemen were killed or injured during a raid, at least they were able to see the impact they were having.

 

Old Palace Primary School, Fireman Memorial, 19th April 1941
I have posted many threads on the Fire Service during WW2
This chap died in December 1947 through injuries received there would have been many more who died after the war
Fireman:Frederick William Hook, National Fire Service

 

The Second Great Fire Of London - 29th December 1940 - A London Inheritance
29th December 1940
in half an hour fires were raging on every side of the Cathedral, but we had no leisure to contemplate the magnificent though terrible spectacle for many bombs had fallen simultaneously on different parts of the Cathedral roofs. Watchers on the roof of the Daily Telegraph building in Fleet Street, who had a full view of St. Paul’s from the west thought that the Cathedral was doomed and told us later that a veritable cascade of bombs was seen to hit and glance off the Dome. Some of these bombs fell on the long stretches of the Nave and Choir roofs and some into what are known as pocket roofs, i.e. the lower roofs over the aisles; others landed in the Cathedral gardens producing a fairly like effect amongst the trees and shrubs on the north and south sides. Twenty eight incendiary bombs fell on St. Paul’s and its precincts that night. Some of the bombs penetrated the roofs and came to rest on the brick or hardwood floors over the vaulting, but some lodged in the roof timbers and started fires. It may be imagined that the volume of the attack and its dispersal over the wide area of the roofs presented a hard problem for the defence”

 

I have been counting the years from 1940 to 1966 (only 26 years)when I was driving with my VW Beetle across London Bridge.I had no idea about this raid. With a German car parked outside a nearby pub, nobody seemed to be bothered.
And this is typical for the 4 years I spent in London and S.E. England. I am a great fan of the Brits.
Even today -Nobody is perfect!
Stefan.