THE ROCKET BOMB.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 65, Issue 43, 30 November 1944, Page 5

THE ROCKET BOMB.

“CIVILIANS IN FRONT LINE” (Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) LONDON, November 28. The rocket bomb, commonly known as V2,-which has fallen on parts of Southern England, is keeping the English civilian in the frpnt line, and is taking its toll. Its effect on the people generally is not as deep as that of the flying bombs. This is chiefly because there is no warning of its arrival, and people are not kept at tension, as they were when they could hear the flying bomb coming for miles. The explosion of the rocket sounds something like a big gun being fired, and it causes considerable damage. One correspondent reports that he saw Germans launch a rocket bomb against England. He said that although he was some thousands ot yards away hiS' head ached and his hands trembled for some time after the terrific foi’ce of the explosion. He adds: “From a wood in the middle distance I saw a great gust of smoke and a jet of flame shoot vertically into the air and go tearing into the sky, and a wave of sound came rolling across the riyer into our ears and faces.” The rocket, it is estimated, reached England within a few minutes. The explosion affected the correspondent “as if someone had turned a hose of water full on mo.”