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Hello and thank you for downloading Witness history from the BBC World Service with me Simon Watts.

Here in Britain World War II is often remembered as a time when the country rallied together to fight Nazi Germany.

Even today, politicians often talk about the Blitz spirit when calling for national unity.

But as I've been finding out from the BBC Archives, there was also

a crime wave during the war years. In March 1941 the

1941 the German Air Force bombed the Cathay de Paris

nightclub in Central London.

Then the city's most glamorous venue, it was full of aristocrats and

stars of show business, even during the Blitz. The waiter was standing behind me, pouring out the champagne over my shoulder for me to sample it

when the bomb burst. 34 revelers were killed by the blast and many more needed to be rescued.

But because the Café de Paris was underground, it took a long time for the emergency services

to realize the club had been destroyed.

I found myself somewhere in the back of the room, literally sitting on a body.

We were all choking and coughing and there was a woman screaming and screaming.

Rescuers did eventually arrive, but they had to fight their way in, past dozens of looters

who got there more quickly.

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