BOMBS ON LONDON

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 25, 9 November 1940, Page 5

BOMBS ON LONDON

WORKERS’ FLATS DAMAGED. TEN DROPPED ON HOSPITAL. MACHINE-GUNNING IN STREET. {United Press Association. —Copyright) (Received This Day, 9.10 a.m.) LONDON, November 8. A street in the London area containing a number of workers’ flats, which was bombed last night, was this morning littered with household goods which the families were rescuing from the debris. No fewer than 10 bombs rained on a big hospital. Two made direct hits and others ringed the hospital with craters. Two nurses and four children were the only casualties. One ward which was directly hit had been emptied the previous day. Some London men and girls were ma-chine-gunned while going to work. A bomb which fell in a park killed a soldier and a girl.

A noticeable reduction in the barrage over London last night was reported to be due to the activity of R.A.F. lighters. The Germans are believed to be restricting lighter-bombers to daylight attacks, employing Junkers heavily loaded at nigh?, many carrying very heavy-calibre bombs. The Luftwaffe opened the daylight attacks with two waves of fighterbombers, which crossed the coast at Dungeness and headed for London. Dog-lights were seen at a tremendous height over the capital. During the first and second alerts crowds of Londoners stood in the streets watching the air battle. \

A corporal, with a Bren gun, shot down a Dornier bomber at Alberton to-day. The crew of six were captured. It is revealed that the Tower of London and the church of St. Clement Danes were bombed during recent raids.

RELATIVELY FEW CASUALTIES.

PREVIOUS HEAVY BOMBING. LONDON, November 8. Enemy raids last night were concentrated mainly on London and the Home Counties, and the first phase was more intense than usual. Houses, shops and public utilities were damaged, but the casualties were not heavy, considering the scale of the raids. The otiter areas of London suffered most, about 40 bombs falling on the neighbourhood. An ambulance depot, a shelter, and a Catholic home for old people were among the buildings hit. The night raiders were half an hour later than usual. The welcome from anti-aircraft guns was undiminished. The raiders again dropped “large packets” of bombs. Ten bombs in one area killed a child in a house, which collapsed, burying a number of persons Rescuers dug out those who were trapped, of whom two or throe were seriously injured. A bomb demolished three houses in another London district, killing two. A few bombs fell in the Midlands. Raiders were also over Liverpool and a south-west town, where a few persons were killed and injured.

Wedged into a crevice under twisted girders and debris, a canary saved the lives of nine victims under a bombed London tenement. The trapped persons were too exhausted to cry out, but the canary’s song guided the air-raid wardens, who rescued nine and brought out six bodies. Five more were believed to be under the wreckage. Then a faint cry was heard from another part of the wreckage,'and members of the A.R.P. dug down and brought out a small boy, begrimed but undaunted after 10 hours under the debris. This bombing wiped out a whole family named Cook —a mother, four sons, and one daughter. The alert signal sounded in London at dusk last night and anti-aircraft guns immediately went into action.. Enemy aircraft were also reported over Liverpool. During Thursday three formations of enemy bombers crossed the English coast. The first flew up the Thames Estuary and was immediately engaged and driven back before it could read London. One enemy machine flying at a great height got through to the London area, but was shot down. The second and third formations attacked Portsmouth, but these were also intercepted. There was little damage and the casualties were few.

Two persons were killed and others were taken to hospital when six highexplosive bombs fell in a populous district. A number of houses were seriously damaged. An elderly man and a youth were killed when a shelter nearby was wrecked. Three women are missing. A bomb falling in gardens between two rows of houses damaged a large number of houses. An aeroplane believed to be an Italian machine, raided a south coast town last night, killing several people starting fires and demolishing houses. Incendiary bombs fell in a . thicklypopulated* area, but members of the A.R.P. quickly controlled the fires. It was this town’s 17oth raid.

When a Messerschmitt 110 fighterbomber crashed on the outskirts of London yesterday, two Hurricane pilots did not realise that they bad shot it down. It was first sighted as it flew nearly six miles obove the East Anglian coast*. The R.A.F. fighters were patrolling 10,000 feet below, aud they chased the enemy over London, climbing all the time. Above Chiswick they came into range, and the German pilot tried to escape by climbing still higher; but one of the fighters opened fire at 200 yards, and as lie went into attack -lie flashed past only 10 yards from the enemy. The other fighter let the Messerschmitt have all his ammunition.

When it had climbed to 31,000 feet,

the Messerschmitt rolled down to 4000 feet and then picked up 1000 feet before it escaped into a cloud. On landing at their base the fighter pilots reported that they had damaged a bomber. They knew they had hit it, but they said they had only seen black and white smoke coming from its engines. The intelligence officer corrected them. They had destroyed it.. The . wreckage had dropped six miles out of the sky. ■ • *-