Terrible Assault On London

Evening Star, Issue 23863, 18 April 1941, Page 5

Terrible Assault On London

WORST RAID OF WAR Continual Rain Of High Explosives And Incendiaries Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, April 17. (Received April 18, at 11.30 a.m.) The German High Command announced that the raid on London was a reprisal for the British raid on Berlin and Potsdam on April 9 and 10, and similar reprisals were threatened. The raid appeared to be largely concentrated on districts which suffered most heavily in the autumn blitz. The residents of these districts received a hammering more terrifying even than Wellsian predictions. Under a blood-red sky, every terror of aerial warfare was let loose. The lighting failed in some districts, and elsewhere the blast caried away windows and window-coverings, so that countless people sat throughout the night in cave-like homes lit only by the flares, fires, and bomb-bursts. A procession of the large bombers dropped their cargoes at random. Then squadrons of smaller and faster planes tenaciously endeavoured to reach special objectives. They dived and re-dived with ear- . splitting roar to release their individual bombs. Particularly heavy casualties resulted when a stick of high explosives fell in the courtyard of a workingclass block. People sheltering under the courtyard and those remaining in their homes suffered alike. The cries of injured adults and children continued pitifully throughout hours. Great masses of debris had to be removed before the injured could be reached, and ambulances carrying some casualties arrived at hospitals to find them hit, too. One bomb fell beside a block of flats, and it is feared that there are many casualties. Although the bombs were still falling, the wardens and police began clambering in the debris seeking the injured even before the dust and smoke had cleared. Many were killed and injured when bombs demolished two rows of houses in a closely-populated area. In addition to the deaths of Lord and Lady Stamp, it is feared that the Hon. Garlyle Stamp was also killed.