LONDON RAIDED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 171, 22 July 1931, Page 7

LONDON RAIDED.

BATTLE IN THE SKIES. Aeroplane Menace at England's Heart. ISSUE UNDECIDED. r (United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright) LONDON, July 21. Winged raiders from the enemy country "Blueland" swept toward London, the capital of "Redland," the destruction of which they had plotted ° in a mock aerial, attack, in a steady n downpour of rain and dulled evening <= skies. " H a The raiders advanced in three groups e of two bombing squadrons apiece. Each comprised nine machines, and 54 aero- j planes thus menaced England's heart. \ But London was instantly alert. Scores li of defensive fighters soared skyward and £ joined fiercely in combat. n h The vital centres were the reservoir on j, Hackney Marshes, the destruction of 0 which would cause London to perish of h thirst, and the West India Docks, j crowded with foodstuffs which supply provender, "lest the street-bred people die." The Duke of York's Barracks at . Chelsea was a strategic military strong- *j point. The' issue must remain undecided until the morning. * c UP TO THE LIMIT. i s PROF. PICCARD'S RECORD. \ PARIS, July 16. f Because no existing apparatus registers a higher altitude, the International ( Aeronautical Federation announces that i it can recognise only 52,600 feet as Professor Piccard's maximum height in his recent balloon ascent, though the federation admits that he must have gone much higher. In any case, he has the satisfaction of knowing that until more delicate instruments have been devised, his record cannot be officially beaten.