RAIDS AGAINST ENGLAND

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23177, 14 November 1940, Page 7

RAIDS AGAINST ENGLAND

London The Main Objective CASUALTIES NOT LARGE (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.) (Received November 13, 11- p.m.) LONDON, November 13. London was the main objective of German air raiders, which came over England in the night, but the Midlands and the Merseyside were also attacked. Bombing continued at intervals throughout the night, but the Air Ministry says that nowhere were the casualties large. The raids on the Midlands were not on a heavy; scale. Raiders last evening were coming over the capital almost every minute. A number of bombs were dropped, and four houses were demolished in a residential district. Six were rescued from one house, but four were killed in an adjoining „ house. In another district, a policeman was killed and four persons were sent to hospital. From early on Monday until last evening, London had had only seven hours pn the alert against air rbids. About half of this time was during daylight. The weather was believed to be partly responsible for the quietness. Enemy activity during daylight yesterday was confined to raids by small numbers of aircraft operating singly. The Air Ministry announces that one of these was shot down in the sea off the south-east coast.

Bombs were dropped at a few points, including one in the London area. They caused a small number of casualties, and little damage is reported. In the afternoon, a south-east town was machine-gunned by a raider, and there were a few casualties.

Within a few minutes of the alert in London, last night, the city’s anti-air-craft barrage came into action. It appeared as though the enemy was attempting to reach the city from several directions simultaneously. London and the country generally had one of the quietest nights on Monday since the blitzkrieg began. “By 9 p.m.states an Air Ministry communique, “all raids had ceased, and, up to 6.15 a.m. on Tuesday, no further enemy aircraft were reported over the country.

“During Monday afternoon and evening a few lone enemy aircraft, taking advantage of the overcast sky, dropped bombs on the London area, in the Home Counties, and several isolated points in other parts of England. At one point in the London area a fire was started, and people were trapped under the wreckage. Elsewhere in the country, although damage was done to a number of houses and there were some casualties, the number of people killed was small. . ~ i "When darkness fell, this small-scale attack was resumed, but only for a short time. During the period of this attack a few bombs were dropped ih the London area in the south-east, m the eastern counties, and in the southwest. The number of casualties was very small, and the damage slight. Printing Works Destroyed

Bombs striking a printing works m London on Monday night caused one of the most terrible raid tragedies so f 31* ' Firemen fought the flames for three hours, after which the military pioneer corps worked feverishly all day in endeavouring to extricate those trapped by cutting through steel girders and forcing a way through piles of masonry. Doctors crawled over smouldering debris to give morphia to the injured. The ruins resemble a pit moutn after a mining disaster. 1 Friends and relatives stood for hours in a bitterly cold wind, waiting for news of those entombed. . Seven bodies have been recovered, including that of the managing (lirector. A number were taken to nosPi Most of those rescued were apparently in a special basement shelter. A man, woman, and child in a stationary car nearby were- Killed. The Ministry ofHome^f I ™ nn y 7 nounces that during October 6334 civilians were killed and 8695 injured and detained in hospital as a result of air raids over Britain. n I I rt Un ''k er of men killed was 2791 and 4228 were injured. The number of women killed was 2900 and 3790 were injured. The number of children d er % a ge of 16 years killed was 643, and 717 were injured. BOMBERS FOR BRITAIN “ FLYING FORTRESSES ” TO BE SENT LONDON, November 12. Informed circles in Washington state that 13 of the improved type of “Flying Fortress” bombers are scheduled to be sent to Britain this month. It is not yet known what purpose these huge machines will serve when they are taken over by the Royal Air Force. They are much larger than any now in service and ate the most powerful bombers in the World, with a range of 4000 miles fully loaded. A feature of these machines, of which the United States has about 46, is the number of protective guns with which they are equipped. Last month it was reported that a score of flying fortresses wCre waiting at Marshfield, California, for a mass flight to Langley Field, Virginia. Army circles refused to comment on the possibility that they might be bound for England, asserting that any flight must be considered a "routine” one.