Flames and smoke billow all around as the unmistakeable shape of St Paul’s Cathedral rises out of this scene from hell.
This picture was to become one of the Second World War’s most iconic images.
London was burning. Huge pillars of fire swept through the streets. But at the centre of the raging inferno St Paul’s stood firm, a symbol of the nation’s defiance and its people’s courage.
Now the historic photo – taken 70 years ago on the evening of December 29, 1940, when the Luftwaffe unleashed its firestorm on the capital – has been digitally enhanced to give it colour
And the impact is all the more horrific for it.
From a vantage point on a Whitehall rooftop, Winston Churchill was moved to fury as he watched the mass of flames spreading across the city, according to a new book about the Blitz.
He turned to an aide and growled: “We’ll get the bastards for this.”
