DREADFUL SCENES

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

DREADFUL SCENES

The Germans are dive-bombing London, which is the newest and most daring tactic the Luftwaffe has used in its attacks on the powerfully defended areas of Britain. The attack, which has now been raging for about six hours, may prove the worst assault on the capital since the outbreak of the war. It is believed that several hundred planes, more than on any previous raid, are smashing at the metropolis. Already it is the most sustained, if not the most intensive, raid of the war, London is rocking under the terrific blows of bombs screeching from the starry sky. There is a waning moon, which does not appear until the early hours of the morning. Reports of casualties so ‘ far are scanty, but it is expected that they will prove heavy. Since soon after dark, when continuous waves began pouring over London, all the civilian defence personnel have been struggling with their jobs, in spite of the terrifying rain of high explosives, incendiaries, and anti-aircraft shell fragments. A later message says that at the end of seven hours R.A.F. night fighters and the Luftwaffe were still furiously .duelling over the city. Roofspotters heard the almost constant drone of Defiants, Hurricanes, Beauforts, and D 7’s, as well as frequent machine-gunning. FIRES QUICKLY QUELLED. Thousands of incendiaries started many tires which threw a giant orange glow over the metropolis. Fire engines clanged almost constantly, and firefighters who spend the day as clerks, salesmen, and business men battled with the flames amidst a hail of more incendiaries and thousands of high explosives. The tires were quelled with amazing quickness. Not a single other place throughout Britain reported even the presence of raiders all night. Londoners seemed to bear up well under the strain of the constant hammering. An example occurred in the United Press office, where an office boy of 15 snoozed in a chair beside the switchboard, oblivious to the deafening explosions of bombs and guns and the rocking of the building. He had to be nudged to answer the telephone.

, Summing up, it can be said that the Luftwaffe pounded the London area for eight hours in the most smashing and intensive raid yet. WORST RAID. The special correspondent of the Associated Press says it was the capital’s worst raid during the war. For eight hours German bombers vented their fury on innocent citizens. London has experienced nothing like this terrific onslaught, even at the height of the autumn blitz. Many previous assaults have been more prolonged, but none has caused such damage.

The raiders began to stream across the coast immediately after dark, after which there was scarcely a minute’s lull in the ferocious bombing. Buildings sometimes shuddered incessantly for long periods, the old familiar sound of crashing walls rising above tremendous burets of gunfire and the unprecedented noise of planes which seemed to swoop lower than ever before. Hundreds of raiders were obviously flung into the attack, which was not relaxed until the first glimmer of dawn. The fierce glow of fires throughout the night lit up the entire capital. “AN UNHOLY SYMPHONY.” Coastal guns hotly engaged the early waves_ of raiders, but they pressed on, dropping flares and thousands of firebombs as guides for the following planes. Many buildings were blazing as the later bombers roared in with high explosives. There has never been such an unholy symphony in London’s night sky. Many hundreds of fire-watchers whose services were for the first time called on in earnest were amazed by the prolonged roar over their heads, such as London had thus far not heard. In a broadcast the Deutschlandsender said the raid was a reprisal for the raid on Berlin on April 9. THREE HOSPITALS STRUCK. Hospitals again suffered severely. Three were struck, but there were few casualties. There was considerable damage when two bombs fell near a hospital, demolishing several houses. There were no casualties among the inmates of the hospital. Fifteen persons were buried under houses when a heavy bomb fell. A rescue squad extricated most, digging under the debris by the light of torches. A woman and two children are still trapped and it is feared that they are all dead. THOUSANDS HOMELESS EMERGENCY RELIEF MEASURES LONDON, April]'. (Received April 18, at 8 a.m.) At dawn fire engines were clanging through the debris-strewn streets. It is estimated that thousands of homeless people are thronging the rest centres, where they are given hot tea, sandwiches, and clothing. Arrangements have been made for emergency housing. It is officially stated that two raiders were destroyed during the night, one by anti-aircraft fire and one by fighter action. Bombs were droppped outside London, mainly in the Home eastern counties and the south-east. Nowhere in these areas were the numbers of casualties large or the damage extensive.

Such of the cable news in this issue as is so headed has appeared in ‘ The Times, 1 and is sent to this paper by special permission. It should be understood that the opinions are not those of ‘ The Times 1 unless expressly stated to be so.