Religion: Canterbury Cathedral Saved

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The grass around Canterbury Cathedral on the morning of June 1 was white with the ashes of burned-out incendiary bombs, the nave was carpeted with stone dust and shattered glass, the cloisters and quadrangle were a mess of rubble. But the main structure was still virtually intact. These facts were revealed last week when the British censor belatedly admitted that Nazi dive-bombers savagely attacked the cathedral "in reprisal for Cologne."

In part the cathedral was saved by firemen who stood on the roof during more than an hour of terrific blitz and tossed dozens of incendiary bombs a minute to the ground. In part it was saved by the foresight of Canterbury's famed "Red Dean," Dr. Hewlett Johnson, who learned a lesson from the bombing of Coventry Cathedral, some time ago had ladders run up along all Canterbury's flying buttresses so that firemen could rush to the roof.

"The Germans did their best to 'get' the cathedral," said Dean Johnson after the raid. "They singled it out, dive-bombed it and hoped to burn it to the ground if they couldn't blow it to pieces. The bravest of fire guards, who worked within inches of death for over an hour throughout the bombing, spoiled the diabolical plan."