The London church that was burned out in the Blitz – but was rebuilt as the Central Church of the RAF

Historic St Clement Danes on the Strand has a very special relationship with the RAF – and the country as a whole

The Princess of Wales, then the Duchess of Cambridge, visiting St Clement Danes in 2016 to mark the 75th anniversary of the RAF Air Cadets
The Princess of Wales, then the Duchess of Cambridge, visiting St Clement Danes in 2016 to mark the 75th anniversary of the RAF Air Cadets Credit: Eddie Mulholland

In the massive German bombing raid that also witnessed the destruction of the House of Commons, the church of St Clement Danes just over a mile away in the Strand was hit and left a burned-out shell. On the night time of May 10 and early morning of May 11 1941 – which historians have come to regard as the last night of the London Blitz – 505 planes of the Luftwaffe dropped 800 tons of high explosives and 86,000 incendiary bombs on the capital. More than 2,000 fires were started, 14,436 people were killed and another 1,792 seriously injured. 

It was perhaps the lowest point, in terms of morale, of the whole war at home. And for the next 14 years, until its rebuilding began as the Central Church of the Royal Air Force, St Clement Danes stood in ruins on its island opposite the Law Courts, a memorial of the sheer destructiveness of Nazism and the now-defeated enemy.

Their poisonous ideology would never rise again: but St Clement’s did, reconstructed as faithfully as Sir Christopher Wren, its architect, would have wished, and opening in 1958. The only survival in its interior from before the Blitz is its pulpit, a gem by Grinling Gibbons. It had been removed and stored in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, and thus escaped destruction. 

On Wednesday December 13, the RAF Benevolent Fund, one of the main charities supported by this year’s Telegraph appeal, will be holding its annual carol service in the church, which is filled with objects, plaques and other memorials of the RAF and its personnel. The floor, for example, is studded with the black metal badges of around 800 RAF squadrons. On the ends of many of the pews are the names and heraldic achievements of deceased former Chiefs of the Air Staff. And, in shrine-like glass cases around the church, are books of remembrance, in which in copper-plate writing on vellum are recorded the names of all RAF personnel who have died serving their country since the service was formed in 1918 – and indeed from 1915 to 1918, listing men of the Royal Flying Corps who gave their lives.

The Diocese of London had been approached at the end of the Second World War with the suggestion that the RAF should be allowed to have one of London’s ruined churches to rebuild and to have as its own (there is no central church of the Royal Navy or of the Army). There was a certain piquancy in a church ruined by one air force being handed over to the care of another. A fund was opened and money raised, not just by the RAF and its veterans (and the grateful British people, who remembered the heroics of Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain and of Bomber Command – 55,000 of whose 125,000 men did not come back), but from air forces and people all around the world. 

A book of remembrance is displayed in one corner of the church for all those Americans who died flying from British bases during the Second World War. The Americans, for their part, donated funds for the splendid Harrison and Harrison organ that adorns the west end of the church. St Clement Danes has acquired a conspicuous reputation for its music.

The architect chosen to mastermind the rebuilding was Anthony Lloyd. In his work he benefited greatly not just from access to plans of the wrecked church but also from 19th and 20th century photographs of the old interior. Sadly, in the aftermath of the war, Britain acquired a reputation for not attempting to rebuild ruined buildings, or for rebuilding them without the care and attention to detail of the original architect. St Clement Danes remains a distinguished exception. Pevsner’s Buildings of England guide says of the Baroque style of the church that it is “without parallel in the contemporary City churches”. 

A statue of William Gladstone stands in front of St Clement Danes on The Strand, in London's West End Credit: Avalon/Getty

One aspect of Lloyd’s fidelity to Wren’s plan was in handling the massive windows on either side of the nave that had been filled with stained glass (and, apparently, not very distinguished stained glass) by the Victorians. Lloyd reverted to Wren’s wishes and left the glazing clear, making the church superbly naturally lit during the day. The only stained-glass window now is behind the altar: a work of 1958 which is rather restrained compared with the Ruskin Spear altarpiece beneath it.

As the Queen’s Colours of RAF squadrons are retired to be replaced by new ones when they begin to wear out, they are brought to hang in the church. Around the building are symbols of the friendship and common cause of air forces from around the world. Once inside, one can see the badges of the Commonwealth air forces, in a ring around the badge of the RAF; and there is also a memorial to the Polish airmen who fought in the service during the war. The Royal Australian Air Force gave the lectern; the Dutch Embassy donated the altar; the font, in a crypt whose short round columns, flat capitals and groin vaults echo the Saxon church built on the site in the 9th century, came from the Royal Norwegian Air Force.

The Garter Banner of Lord Portal, who spent almost all the Second World War as Chief of the Air Staff, also hangs in the church, brought there from St George’s Chapel at Windsor after his death in 1971. Statues of two of his great contemporaries, Lord Dowding and Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris, greet those approaching the west door of the church. Above that entrance are the arms of Lord Trenchard, the “father” of the RAF. 

When reconstructing the interior Lloyd ignored certain other embellishments that Victorians had imposed on the church, the ornamentation of which was designed mainly by Edward Pierce, a sculptor and wood-carver. Pevsner calls the interior “one of the most successful post-war Wren church restorations, atmospheric and wholly convincing”. As one enters the church and looks towards the altar one is struck by three things: the almost chequered pattern on the stone floor made by the embedded squadron badges; the deep patina of the richly carved woodwork; and the finely decorated plaster ceiling leading from the barrel-vaulted ceiling into the apse. Although it is now 65 years since the church was in ruins, looking at the standard of the restoration makes it hard to believe it was ever damaged. And it is also a formidable statement of the triumphs of life over death, and of good over evil.

The RAF Benevolent Fund, which has such a close connection with the church and is one of the charities supported in this year’s Telegraph Christmas Appeal, was formed in 1919. It provides support to RAF personnel, veterans and their families in recognition of their service to the country. The fund helps such people in moments of financial hardship, but also to cope with the challenges of old age – providing mobility aids and adaptations of living accommodation for those who need them, and also respite care. And, in keeping with an age that recognises more keenly the effect military service can have on the mind as well as the body, it helps provide mental health counselling and other forms of support. In 2022 it offered help of various sorts to 40,700 members of what it calls “the extended RAF family”. Support from Telegraph readers will help guarantee this excellent work can continue.            

The RAF Benevolent Fund is one of four charities supported by this year’s Telegraph Christmas Charity Appeal. The others are Go Beyond, Race Against Dementia and Marie Curie. To make a donation, please visit telegraph.co.uk/2023appeal or call 0151 284 1927