Glorious RAF Church that was reduced to a burned-out shell in 'worst night of Blitz'

Glorious RAF Church that was reduced to a burned-out shell in 'worst night of Blitz'EXCLUSIVE: More than 1,400 people died and thousands more were injured in horror raid at height of the Blitz. Even today, London bears the scars of that night Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Add us as preferred source Comments By John Nichol 07:01, Sun, May 31, 2026 Spring blossom outside St Clements church... it was gutted in worst night of Blitz then later rebuilt (Image: In Pictures via Getty)Winston Churchill later described it as “the most destructive attack of the whole Night Blitz”. Overnight on May 10-11, 1941, more than 500 German aircraft spent six hours raining hundreds of tons of high explosive and more than 80,000 incendiaries in the capital. Some 1,436 men, women and children perished, while 1,800 were seriously injured, and 11,000 houses were destroyed. The fires could be seen 160 miles away and 700 acres had burned – more than during the Great Fire of London. window.scriptsToLoad.push({url:'https://live.primis.tech/live/liveView.php?s=118222&vp_content=plembed3a6btjknzwqh&cbuster=%%CACHEBUSTER%%&playerApiId=v118222',triggeredBy:'tcfLoaded',delay:1500,containerId:'ovp-primis',title:"Primis player",beforeLoad:()=>{window.top.addEventListener('primisPlayerInit',e=>{try{if(e.detail&&e.detail.playerApiId==="v118222"){if(window.document.getElementsByClassName('jwplayer')[0]){e.detail.float('disable')}}}catch(e){}})},}) The church of St Clement Danes on London’s Strand is the official Central Church of the Royal Air Force – the service’s “family church”. I have attended countless events there – funerals, memorials, carol services and more – before retiring to one of the local hostelries for refreshments and to reminisce with old friends. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT Get the day's biggest headlines in UK and World news and more Subscribe Invalid emailWe use your sign-up to provide content in way...