Railways at War in Pictures
St Pancras station in London, after the German air raid of 10th May 1941. A 1000 lb bomb penetrated platforms 3 and 4, went through the vaults below and damaged the Metropolitan Railway underground line running underneath the station. The station was closed for a week for repairs. After the war the roof was rebuilt and the glazing reconfigured.
The most devastating raid on London took place on the night of 10/11 May 1941, 11:02pm - 05:57am
The moon was full and the Thames had a very low ebb tide. These two combined with a maximum effort by the Germans, before they moved east to attack the Soviet Union, to produce one of the most devastating raids on the capital.
571 sorties flown by German bombers - some crews flying two and even three missions.
711 tons of high explosive bombs (167 were recorded as unexploded the next day) and 86,173 incendiaries dropped.
London Fire Brigade recorded at least 2136 fires, 9 of 'conflagration' level, 8 'major' outbreaks (rating over 30 pumps), 43 serious (up to 30 pumps), 280 medium (up to 10 pumps) and at least 1796 small. (rafmuseum.org.uk)
Approx. 1436 people killed and 1800 seriously injured.
The fires resulted in 700 acres of destruction - about double that of the Great Fire of London.
(Source - National Railway Museum/Science & Society Picture Library)
The most devastating raid on London took place on the night of 10/11 May 1941, 11:02pm - 05:57am
The moon was full and the Thames had a very low ebb tide. These two combined with a maximum effort by the Germans, before they moved east to attack the Soviet Union, to produce one of the most devastating raids on the capital.
571 sorties flown by German bombers - some crews flying two and even three missions.
711 tons of high explosive bombs (167 were recorded as unexploded the next day) and 86,173 incendiaries dropped.
London Fire Brigade recorded at least 2136 fires, 9 of 'conflagration' level, 8 'major' outbreaks (rating over 30 pumps), 43 serious (up to 30 pumps), 280 medium (up to 10 pumps) and at least 1796 small. (rafmuseum.org.uk)
Approx. 1436 people killed and 1800 seriously injured.
The fires resulted in 700 acres of destruction - about double that of the Great Fire of London.
(Source - National Railway Museum/Science & Society Picture Library)