I went back to Richmond wondering whether this was the beginning of the end. The fires in the docks were enormous: they could never be put out before nightfall. Even if we jammed the beams completely, the night bombers would have perfect markers, for the flames in the docks could be seen from the coast. All the Luftwaffe would then have to do was to keep the fires stoked up with successive raids, while its main force aimed a few miles to the west and so pulverized central London.
It's strikingly easy for even hard-nosed skeptical people to over-catastrophize a situation.
