St Paul's Cathedral

Turning the corner on Watling Street, we'll have finally arrived at London's most iconic structure of the Blitz, St Paul's Cathedral. Towering high over its surroundings with its large dome, the cathedral appears massive as you closely approach it from the festival gardens. One thing to note about the cathedral is that it survived much of the destruction from the Blitz. Churchill even made efforts to push as many resources as possible to maintain the cathedral's structure in fear of losing British morale. Firewatchers on patrol kept the structure as safe as possible by extinguishing any fire that was made on the spot. Some bombs ended up shifting the position of the dome by a fraction causing minor damage in the interior and the structural integrity. A single time delayed bomb struck outside the main entrance in September, 1940 and had it have gone off, St Paul's Cathedral would not be standing today. Luckily, a squadron of Royal Engineers defused it in time, risking their lives to maintain the hope of their country.

St Paul's Survives, the historic photograph of the London Blitz captured the country's eyes as the true symbol of strength and courage. It shows a ruined and smoke filled city uplifted by a single bright, clear, and towering.structure in the distance. Only hours before the photo was taken, London experienced the worst period of the Blitz. The night of December 29, 1940 became known as the Second Great Fire of London when nearly 100,000 bombs were dropped in the span of a few hours. Firemen, as young as 16, were sent into the inferno while bombs rained down above. On the 70^th anniversary of the Blitz one of those brave men, George Wheeler, recounted his experience on the frontline that very night in an interview with BBC. "We were next to St Paul's in an area known as Paternoster Square where everything had gone up in flames," said Wheeler. "It didn't matter where you looked, all the buildings were down, massive big heats of rubble, and all you could see was wistful smoke going up." It's hard to even fathom the amount of destruction that took place in this area we are now standing in today. How fortunate we are to still have the cathedral in one piece thanks to the brave volunteers that risked their lives to protect it.

This destination is the sixth and final stop on the London Blitz Cathedral Tour.