FIGHTING SHY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 7, 19 October 1940, Page 5

FIGHTING SHY.

NAZIS AVOIDING DEFENCES THE ATTACKS ON LONDON LONDON, October IS. Night raiders made many more London homes uninhabitable, although many districts experienced long lulls during the night. A bomb destroyed a group of four houses, burying the occupants. Five bombs in another area hit a block of flats and adjoining houses. Three high-explosive bombs and several incendiaries smashed more houses and a water-main, causing casualties. At least three auxiliary fire ‘•ervico members were killed when a bomb crashed into a messroom at a fire station in the London area. . Rescuers worked on in spito of other bombs falling close by, extricating the injured from the wreckage. A high-explosive bomb hit a hospital annexe in a Liverpool district, but there were no casualties.

Many other parts of England' were bombed last night, but it is officially stated, that the damage was not great and the casualties slight. Private dwellings suffered most,, but other buildingsh it includqd two .hospitals 1 , a nursing home ,a sanatorium, a school and a church. There were some deaths.

In spite of Germany’s boast that the air attack on Britain would be intensified, there was little-sign of increased activity over London up to midnight yesterday. The Germans seemed to fight shy of London’s defences, and there were several long lulls with neither the sound of aeroplanes or gunfire. A few reports came in before midnight of bombs dropped on, the outskirts of the city. One damaged a church, but there were no casualties. Canterbury Cathedral narrowly escaped damage during one of Thursday afternoon’s raids, according to a communique. Several bombs were dropped near by, and damage was done to the Deanery and in the Cathedral precincts. -

The Berlin radio claimed that divebombers attacked a British submarine in the English Channel, and that pieces of the submarine were blown into the air.