SLEEPING CHILDREN BOMBED

Evening Star, Issue 23650, 9 August 1940, Page 7

SLEEPING CHILDREN BOMBED

NAZI RAIDERS OVER SANATORIUM YOUNGSTERS BEHAVE SPLENDIDLY LONDON, August 8. (Received August 9, at 9.20 a.m.) Three hundred children from the poorer districts of northern counties were asleep in a sanatorium when bombs fell nearby. A nurse said the children behaved magnificently. They stayed quietly in bed and went to sleep when the excitement abated. Many windows and doors were smashed. One bomb fell just behind the nurses’ home, where 150 nurses, maids, and other staff workers were asleep. There were no casualties. The raiders flew high over two southeast coastal towns in the morning, and also dropped one bomb on north-east England. No damage and no casualties resulted. AFTERNOON RAID LONDON, August 8, (Received August 9, at 10.50 a.m.) German planes were off south-eastern England this afternoon. A number of small bombs were dropped near a small ship. The raiders fled when R.A.F. planes appeared. JULY AIR RAID CASUALTIES LONDON, August 8. (Received August 9, at 11 a.m.) Sir John Anderson, in the House of Commons, announced that the July air raid casualties totalled 258 killed and 321 seriously injured. The killed included 178 men, 57 women, and 23 children under 16. The injured included 227 men, 77 women, and 17 children. BERLIN'S REPORT BERLIN, August 8. (Received August 9, at 9.30 a.m.) A High Command communique states: A German submarine sank three armed merchantmen of a total tonnage of over 16,000. German . planes last night laid mines outside several English ports and bombed the Leyland motor works and the Vickers Armstrong motor works at Chester, aeroplane works at Yeovil, and industrial plants at Plymouth, also anti-aircraft batteries and searchlights at Manchester, Cardiff, Dorchester, and Plymouth. Enemy planes last night raided northern and western Germany. Some houses were damaged near Essen and Datteln, Two enemy planes were shot down.

CANADIAN-BUILT BOMBER SUCCESSFUL TESTS QUEBEC, August 8. (Received August 9, at 12.35 p.m.) The first Canadian-built Hampden bomber, the product of six firms working in co-operation, was successfully tested.

SHIPPING LOSSES EXAGGERATED GERMAN CLAIMS (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, August 9. (Received August 10, at 10.45 a.m.) Although it is not pretended that the German success against shipping is slight, so far the highest figure of the tonnage sunk in any four weeks does not reach half the total sunk in the peak four weeks of the last war. In spite of the German boasts in the headlines in the Nazi Press yesterday that their fleet and air arm had exceeded the successes scored against Britain by the German navy in 1917, figures show that in the single month of April of that year the German navy sank 881,000 tons, being the highest total reached, whereas the present peak in the four weeks from June 2 to June 30 shows that 377,260 tons of British, Allied, and neutral shipping fell victims to all forms of German action. The next four-week period, from July 1 to July 28, shows a slight reduction. During that period 310,249 tons were sunk by the combined efforts of U-boat, air, and mine attacks. FIRE ON NORWEGIAN SHIP G-MEN INVESTIGATING NEW YORK. August 8. (Received August 9, at 11 a.m.) G-men are investigating to determine whether sabotage caused the fire which broke out on the Norwegian steamer Lista, carrying a heavy undisclosed cargo to Liverpool. The ship sailed last night. Tugs attempted to tow the vessel to New York after the fire, but the flames spread. The ship was grounded in the outer harbour and the crew taken off, BRITISH PARLIAMENT SHORT ADJOURNMENT POSSIBLE (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, August 8.

(Received August 9, at 10.15 a.m.) Mr Attlee announced in the House of Commons that it was hoped that it would be possible to begin a short adjournment on August 22.