Exeter Cathedral Bomb Damage

In May 1942 a heavy bombing raid by the German Luftwaffe inflicted great destruction on the historic centre of Exeter. The raid was one of the ‘Baedeker Raids’ named from a popular German tourist guidebook and said to direct the bombers towards historic cities. A single bomb landed on the Cathedral chapel of St James, destroying the medieval chapel, the muniment room above, two buttresses and bringing down three bays of the south quire aisle adjoining the chapel. Many thousands of fragments of medieval wood and stone were scattered across the area and these were collected and preserved until repairs could be made. The King and Queen visited Exeter to see the devastation and the King, famously, said that the repairs to the Cathedral would be the greatest jigsaw puzzle in the world. Close examination of the wooden screen around the Quire today shows the dedication of Herbert Read and his team in piecing together what they could of the original building. St James’ Chapel was completely rebuilt, using salvaged stone where possible, and now holds a memorial to the Polish 307 Squadron who saved Exeter from more considerable damage.