The "all clear" signal was given after 8 hours 18 minutes.
This was the city's longest raid.
Four hundred people were killed last night in London, and from 1300 to 1400 were seriously injured.
It is learned that the Germans lost 88 planes out of the 500 they say they sent over, and this would mean the loss of probably 200 airmen also.
The R.A.F. fighters brought down 74 of the enemy planes and anti-aircraft fire 14. Twenty-two of the R.A.F. fighters are missing, but the pilots of eight are safe.
The battle began with an attack by 350 raiders in the afternoon. Then, after a two-hour pause, it was intensified shortly before dark, and was continued into Sunday.
The main fury of the onslaught swept Dockland, but Londoners in much more westerly areas also felt the blast of the bombs.
Indeed, all Londoners now have a personal appreciation of what a raid means, and many who hitherto stayed out of the shelters gladly took refuge underground.
Many who were caught in the streets dived into gutters until they were able to go on to the shelters.
The guns in the London area opened up for the first time, adding their pounding to the bombs.
Water mains burst, flooding the streets to a depth of several inches. Gas mains were fractured in several areas. A bomb directly hit a hospital demolishing part of it.
One bomb burst immediately in front of a crowded bus, and another landed in the roadway and broke the legs of a man on the pavement.
One raider caught fire and crashed. Two raiders further out dived to a height of 60 feet and machine-gunned a train but there were no casualties.
The London Fire Brigade fighting East End fires with the help of the Auxiliary Fire Service summoned assistance from many districts, and fast modern fire-fighters streamed through Piccadilly to the east. Men and women rallied in force with stirrup pumps.
First aid stations and ambulances were busy, with the demolition squads digging for injured among the debris, the regular and special police marshalling those rendered homeless to safety and superintending the evacuation of the houses in the danger areas.
One American news agency is quoted as saying that the Germans are carrying out utterly indiscriminate bombing, and draws attention to the fact that 90 per cent of all the damage caused is to non-military objectives.
A high-placed official says: "While the damage done last evening might, from the local viewpoint, be judged fairly severe, it must not be regarded as serious when viewed against the background of the war as a whole, particularly because we are prepared for such damage.
"Indeed, there has been far more serious damage ever since the outbreak, but preparations were made for it, and I see no reason for dejection or depression regarding to-day's bombardment, especially in view of the R.A.F.'s exploits."
September 10: A mountainous black cloud of smoke is hanging over London this morning.
The police guarded the entrances to all affected areas pending the fixture of barriers.
The streets are filled with dust and smoke. Ambulances and demolition wagons still race along the roads. Rescuers over a wide area are still searching buildings for victims.
The most distressing scenes are in progress, not only in the East End, but in areas far westward.
Warehouses in the vicinity of St Paul's Cathedral were ablaze.
The church St Mary le Bow of Bow Bells fame after a long period of anxiety was pronounced out of danger.
With bombers overhead, rescuers in many parts of London worked extricating people from collapsed houses.
Two bombs falling on a London square demolished one house and damaged every other.
A member of the A.R.P. said: "It is not the fires and damaged buildings which upset us but the sight of little children with gaping wounds, others killed outright, people screaming amid the flames, women frantically trying to save their babies and men searching for their families."
A bomb in the central London district demolished a women's hostel, causing the surrounding area to be evacuated.
Bombs fell on two hospitals in central London, shattering the roof of a children's hospital, causing a fire on the top floor. A second bomb hit a maternity hospital. A nurse's home was also struck. There were no casualties at any of the three places. The maternity hospital contained 30 mothers and 20 babies.
September 14: More bombs were dropped on Buckingham Palace in an air raid which took place this morning.
The Ministry of Information announces that, although their Majesties were in the palace at the time, they were unharmed.