Lost Treasures

During the "little blitz" early this year, the Germans cut loose with one characteristically short, severe raid on London's West End, landed a heavy bomb squarely in the street at the western end of Pall Mall, with a shower of explosives and incendiaries on nearby buildings.

Last week military authorities allowed correspondents to report the score: historic St. James's Palace damaged; several art dealers' shops (including famed Christie's) wrecked, with a loss of $2,000,000 worth of art treasures.

St. James's, which gave its name to the British royal court, was a residence of British sovereigns for 300 years (until Victoria selected Buckingham Palace), later was the official residence of the Duke of Windsor, then Prince of Wales. The old brick palace suffered mainly from blast. All its stained glass on the north side was blown in, along with the great mullioned windows of the Chapel Royal. The clock face in the north side of the tower, a London landmark, was blown away.

Workmen who grubbed in the wreckage of the art shops for weeks after the raid recovered $1,000,000 worth of paintings and furniture.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.