Nelson & His World

This year marks the 70th Anniversary of the Blitz in 1940. Following a short Christmas 'break' (!) the Germans resumed bombing on the 29th December. It has always been remarked upon that St Paul's survived the onslaught virtually intact, whilst all around it was flattened:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12016916

The article doesn't give much away, but I would imagine there must be an interesting story here as to how the Cathedral staff, firewatchers etc, fought to keep the building from being destroyed. If the bombers had succeeded not only would one of the great buildings of London have been reduced to rubble, but presumably Nelson's tomb and the others surrounding it would have been blown to atoms. We should certainly be grateful that this didn't happen.

There were, apparently, secret Nazi plans to remove Nelson's column to Berlin in the wake of an expected Nazi victory.
( The story is related in Norman Longmate's book, 'If Britain had Fallen' (1972). Maybe Hitler wasn't aware that his trophy was not very far away from the Square Mile, and might well be damaged in any blitz on that area.

As a sideline, it is interesting to note that Oxford, unlike many other ancient cities, was expressly protected from bombing raids on Hitler's orders, the reason being that he planned to set up his headquarters in Blenheim Palace, home of the Dukes of Marlborough, and the birthplace of Winston Churchill, which is not far from Oxford.