THEATRE ROCKED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 80, 5 April 1943, Page 2

THEATRE ROCKED

SMOKE BOMBS EXPLODE

MLITARY INQUIRY ORDERED j (0.C.) SYDNEY, April 2. The officer commanding the New South ■ Wales military area, Major-General Fewtrell, has stated that he will cause a searching inquiry to be held into an incident on the North Shore on Tuesday evening which caused considerable confusion. About 8 p.m. at Spit Junction, and about an hour later at Crow's Nest,, soldiers engaged in exercises exploded smoke bombs which caused some alarm, making many people think that something real was happening, filled the streets for a time with heavy hanging smoke and broke several windows in Mosman Town Hall.

At Spit Junction the bombs were exploded in front of shops. At Crow's Nest they were exploded in front of the picture theatre. The theatre manager said: "The first explosion rocked the theatre. Other explosions followed rapidly. The foyer filled with black, oily smoke. Half the people in the theatre rushed outside. Soldiers with fixed bayonets were moving about in the smoke. One jam-tin bomb rolled down the hill and exploded almost outside the theatre.

A cafe proprietor said: "What appeared to be a big spark from one of the explosions licked like a flame into my shop. I stepped outside, and a soldier demanded: 'Have you an identity card?' I said, 'Yes,' and stepped back. He did not insist that I produce it."