LONDON ORDEAL

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 197, 17 May 1941, Page 8

LONDON ORDEAL

Story Of The September

Blitzkrieg

“Hell Came to London,” by Basil Woon, (London: Peter Davies.)

This is the story of the blitzkrieg that failed: the first 1.4 days of the bombing of London by Germany in September last, and written while the bombs were falling. It is a record of London's ordeal (old day by day; almost hour by hour. And what a story it makes! Little wonder that Ralph Ingersoll. famous American journalist, describes it as “the greatest story of all time.” Living in a flat in the centre of the blitz area, Mr. Woon shared the experience of many Londoners. Engaged in writing a new book, he found it impossible to continue his work, so turned his pen to the intimate study of warfare at the heart of Britain. He describes what he saw, supplemented by the daily reports from the Press in its official bulletins. There are incidents. grim, pathetic, heroic and humorous. He tells how a brutal attack was turned into an enemy defeat, and of the remarkable powers of resisttance displayed by men, women, and even small children. The author has gathered the experiences of all manner of people who passed through those terrible days, and the effect of the rain of death and destruction from the skies had on them. Invasion was thought in many quarters to be imminent, for had not Churchill warned “that thousands of craft of every sort are choking the Nazi ports, from Norway to Brest, ready for the day or night Hitler gives the word. We must regard the next week as one of the most important in our history.” How people lived through those days of intense anxiety is the kernel of Mr. Woon’s story. He has caught and reflects the atmosphere of those days of crisis in remarkable fashion. As well as being an extremely exciting story “Hell Came to London” constitutes a valuable contemporary document.