inside of the clock room placed a ladder against a shaft driving the hands, stopping the clock from 8:47 a.m. to 10 a.m. 1 September 1939: Although the bells continued to ring, the clock faces were not illuminated at night throughout to avoid guiding bomber pilots during the Blitz. 10/11 May 1941: the clock was damaged during a German bombing raid, either by a small bomb or by a British anti-aircraft shell, Stonework and ornamental ironwork was damaged, and the glass on the south dial was shattered. 3–4 June 1941: The clock stopped from 10:13 p.m. until 10:13 the following morning, after a workman repairing air-raid damage to the clock face left a hammer too close to the mechanism. 9 December 1944: The clock hands stopped due to mechanical failure. The broken part - a pendulum suspension spring - was replaced within a few hours. 25–26 January 1945: Extremely cold temperatures froze the rubber bushings on the quarter-bell hammers, preventing the chimes sounding from 9 p.m. on the 25th to 9 p.m. the following evening; the BBC broadcast the pips in the interval. 28 January 1947: The rubber bushings on the quarter bell hammers again froze before the clock sounded midnight, muting the chimes, though the problem was resolved by the morning. 12 August 1949: The clock slowed by four and a half minutes after a flock of starlings perched on the minute hand. 13 January 1955: The clock stopped at 3:24 a.m. due to drifts of snow forming on the north and east dials. Small electric heaters were placed just inside these two dials, and this measure has helped to reduce instances of freezing in recent years. 18 July 1955: The rope operating the striking hammer broke, silencing the clock from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. New Year's Eve 1962: The clock slowed due to heavy snow and ice on the hands, causing the pendulum to detach from the clockwork, as it is designed to do in such circumstances, to avoid serious damage elsewhere in the mechanism – the pendulum continuing to swing freely. Thus, it chimed-in the 1963 new year nine minutes late. 30 January 1965: The bells were silenced during the funeral of statesman and former prime minister Winston Churchill. 9 January 1968: Snow buildup on the clock faces blocked the hands from moving, stopping the clock from 6:28 a.m. to 10:10 a.m. 5 August 1976: The