Not all of our region’s history was shaped by human hands. At times, Mother Nature has written the chapters herself—and not always gently. On the afternoon of April 26, 1937, she left an indelible mark when the Thames River burst over the breakwaters and reinforced dikes meant to contain it. Those defences had been built after the devastating flood of 1883 and strengthened again in 1905, but in 1937 they met a force far greater than anyone had expected.
After a mild winter, the early spring had been relentlessly wet. In the days before the disaster, rain fell almost without pause, swelling the river to nearly 120 times its usual flow. Then, in only a few hours, the Thames surged upward—23 metres, or about seven feet—submerging large portions of London and surrounding communities.
The destruction was staggering. More than 1,000 homes were washed away, leaving between one in ten and one in twenty Londoners homeless, depending on the account. Millions of dollars in damage were recorded, and five people lost their lives—including one resident whose rescuers’ boat was swamped in the currents.
It took three days for the waters to recede. Historical photographs show the flood’s reach extended far beyond London, inundating Ingersoll, Stratford, St. Marys, Woodstock, and Beachville.
News of the disaster even pulled native son Guy Lombardo back to his hometown. Upon hearing what had happened, he cancelled a lucrative Detroit engagement and returned to lead a benefit concert. He and his Royal Canadians opened the evening with a fitting choice: “Home Sweet Home.”
The Great Flood of 1937—later called “London’s Worst Disaster of the Century”—and a second major flood a decade later finally prompted lasting action. The result was the formation of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority and, ultimately, the construction of the Fanshawe Dam.
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