Victoria Library, Buckingham Palace Road

17 April 1941

By Jerry Clark

Victoria Library stands at 160 Buckingham Palace Road SW1, designed and built in 1892-1894 by architect AJ Bolton. During World War II, an ARP Civil Defence Reserve Centre was located in the basement, an equipped and semi-staffed backup facility for the Westminster Report Centre headquarters at City Hall, St Martin's Place.

An incendiary bomb hit the Library on 17 April 1941 at approximately 3.30am. The building caught fire. In a City of Westminster ARP report received at 3.57am, the responding agent noted it was in danger of being burnt down. 

By 8.30am, the fire had been put out. The ARP - which operated an Observer Post in the tower of nearby Victoria Coach Station (1932) -  then dismissed the Fire Service pumps to help at other locations.  However, the building still had major damage. 

Gas and water leaks had been sealed off by the morning. The top part of the Library had been damaged by the fire; the lower level by water.  Fortunately, no casualties were reported.