On the 18th the cathedral was again hit on the southern flying buttresses and on the roof, leaving several German wounded.
On Sept. 19 the cathedral was fairly riddled by bombs during the entire day, and at about 3:45 the scaffolding surrounding the north tower caught fire. This fire lasted about one hour, and during that time two further bombs struck the roof, setting it also on fire. The curé claims that one of these bombs must have been incendiary, otherwise it would be impossible to explain the extraordinary quickness with which the fire spread throughout the roof timbers.
The fire from the scaffolding descended until it reached the north door of the main façade, which caught rapidly, burned through and communicated to the straw with which the floor of the cathedral was covered. This straw had been ordered on Sept. 12 by the German Commander in order to prepare the cathedral to receive 3,000 German wounded but the evacuation of the city by the Germans had prevented the cathedral being used for that purpose.

License information: nan
MPAA: PG-13
Go to source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16331/16331-h/16331-h.htm#Bombardment_of_Rheims_Cathedral