Greetings and welcome to another cold lockdown Saturday here in London Town. Today, we’re heading west to look at some more ‘then and now’ comparisons from “Hitler Passed This Way”, an anthology of photos published by the Evening News, a now-defunct London evening newspaper,

for whom ‘then’ was in the 1930s and ‘now’ was immediately after the war in 1945-46.We’re going to try and add today’s view where we can and provide a little more information on each incident, sometimes using my own photographs but also, because of the present restrictions on

travelling, relying on Google Street View images. As before, we will have covered some of these places on previous virtual walks but we do have some fresh places to visit as well. We’re going to start today in Tottenham Court, close to Goodge Street Station opposite the

Whitefield Memorial Church, today the American International Church, which dates from 1957. George Whitefield originally built his tabernacle here in 1756 which lasted until 1890, when it was demolished and replaced by the building we see in the pre-war photograph. Whitefield had

been a preacher with remarkable oratorical powers and always drew large crowds, both here and in the USA, which he visited seven times. Legend has it that he preached over 18,000 sermons in his career but on the late evening of Sunday 25 March 1945, one of the very last V-2

rockets to reach London struck here, totally destroying the building and killing 9 people, as well as seriously injuring a further 35. In addition to the Evening News photos, we can share some official images taken at the time which show the sheer destructive power of the V2.

From here, we can head south via Charlotte Street, Rathbone Place (which we covered in a previous virtual walk) and through Soho Square and Frith Street, before we reach Shaftesbury Avenue, which we cross to enter Gerrard Place and Newport Place, skirting Chinatown to cross

Lisle Street to enter Leicester Square via Leicester Court. We now pause in Leicester Square, at the junction with Cranbourn Street. This is an area which has changed almost beyond recognition today but fortunately, The Hippodrome on the corner of Cranbourn Street gives us a

point of reference that we can navigate by. On the site of what is now a Burger King, once stood RE Jones’ Leicester Corner, a refuge of theatre and music hall artists, who used to frequent the restaurant and bar here. Before that, it had been the Hotel Provence, which in the

early part of the 20th Century contained something of a notorious “night house” where fights had been frequent and the local police at Vine Street, regular callers in an effort to keep order. All this history came to an end in the early hours of 17 April 1941 when a direct hit

destroyed the premises but fortunately without loss of life. From here, we can head through Leicester Square and turn left into Whitcomb Street, and take the first right into Panton Street.

If we look to our right, we see a modern block which contains the Japan Centre but this was once the home to Stone’s Chop House, a legendary restaurant famed for its chops, steaks and grilled herrings, as well as a good bar and atmosphere to match.

All of this was destroyed on the night of 10/11 May 1941, although happily without loss of life in this instance and today, it is hard to actually work out one’s bearings, as is so often the case when comparing views of wartime London.

We now turn right into Haymarket then left back onto Coventry Street to Piccadilly Circus and turn right into Piccadilly itself, where we pause outside St James’ Church, a Wren creation from 1682-84, which also contains works by Grinling Gibbons in the form of the carved marble

font and the reredos. On the 14 October 1940, a bomb fell in the forecourt of Wren’s church, shattering the roof and destroying the rectory. Sadly, the verger and his wife were both killed here. Although services resumed in the open air from 1941, repairs were not completed until

1954, with a glass fibre spire added in 1968. We now travel further along Piccadilly to the massive gyratory system at Hyde Park Corner and pause outside what is now the Intercontinental Hotel on the corner of Park Lane.

This was the site of 145 Piccadilly, the London home of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth for some ten years prior to the King’s accession to the throne but was unoccupied when on the night of 7/8 October 1940, the building was destroyed by a HE bomb. One of the few people alive

that can still remember the old building is probably HM The Queen, whose nursery was located on the second floor. From here, we’ll head north along Old Park Lane a short distance, before we turn right into Hertford Street and left into Stanhope Row.

We pause opposite the pedestrian only Shepherd Street, a right of way into Shepherd Market. The house that goes over the entrance to Shepherd Street was once occupied by Mr Hubard, Treasurer of the Football Association but on the night of 16 Nov. 1940, it received a direct hit,

killing one person. When the properties were rebuilt, the temptation was avoided to “go large” and present day buildings match the existing properties quite well. We can now head north along South Audley Street, Grosvenor Square + North Audley Street to turn right into Oxford St,

where we turn right and continue until we reach John Lewis’s famous department store. Oxford Street once went by the rather sexist nickname of “The Ladies Mile”, although this term has long passed from use. John Lewis started here in 1864 in a small store with six assistants

and a window space of just 20 feet. When Mr Lewis died in 1928 at the age of 93, his store had grown to take in two large blocks between Princes Street and Phoenix Yard, as well as between Hollies Street and Old Cavendish Street. However, on the night

of 17/18 September 1940, the store was gutted by both HE and incendiary bombs and although no staff or those sheltering in the basement were killed, two AFS firemen (1940 ranks used) firefighters were killed by falling masonry shortly after arriving at the scene.

The fire took almost two days to bring under control,
by which time the store was almost completely destroyed. The store carried on from adjacent premises but as we can see from the foundation stone, the main store on this site was not rebuilt until 1958-60. From here,

we turn left at Oxford Circus and walk to Langham Place, where we pause. This is another location where a meaningful ‘then and now’ is almost impossible because the area has been completely changed. The present-day block is called Henry Wood House and is occupied by the BBC.

Apart from the commemorative plaque, this is the only clue that on this site once stood the Queen’s Hall, original home of the BBC Proms, founded by Sir Henry Wood here in 1895. The hall itself had been completed two years previously but when the incendiaries of the Luftwaffe

started fires here on the night of 10/11 May 1941, nothing could be done to prevent the total gutting of the building. It is said that Sir Henry Wood wept when he saw the pathetic remains and although the Evening News reported in 1946 that the Queens Hall would be rebuilt,

these plans came to nothing and the Proms moved permanently to the Royal Albert Hall. That ends our virtual tour for today but join us again next Saturday when we shall look at some more sites covered in the book./END