MORE RAIDS ON LONDON

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 September 1940, Page 7

MORE RAIDS ON LONDON

West end suffers heavily 1 ■; s't ANOTHER HOSPITAL HIT OTHER TOWNS ATTACKED [BY CABLE. —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.]

LONDON, September 17. London had two air-raid warnings this morning, one just .after 8 o’clock, and the other an hour later. During the second warning an enemy bomber was shot down by anti-air-craft fire.

Passengers on a train heard. the sound of an aeroplane engine over the Train. They then heard an antiaircraft gun fire one round, and after that the noise of the engine ceased. A few minutes later they heard a terrific crash behind the brow of a hill.

A communique issued this morning by the Air Ministry states: “Enemy attacks were resumed at dusk yesterday. The raids were spread over the whole countryside, but were concentrated chiefly on London. Bombs were dropped on many parts of the city. Damage was done to houses and commercial buildings, and a hospital was hit, but there were no casualties, as. the patients had been evacuated. Damage was also done to city property in the north-west, and there were a number of casualties. Tn the north-east damage was very small. On the' whole, casualties were not heavy. During the night an enemy bomber fouled the cable of a barrage balloon, and was destroyed.” Central London last night had the fiercest raid it has experienced. Flying among the clouds, the Germans regularly dropped high-explosive bombs. The anti-aircraft barrage was of terrific intensity, but did not j prevent the raiders diving to the very limits of the balloon barrage. Thousands during the night indulged in a new night pastime of “door-hopping” to escape - flying shrapnel as they scurried homewards. The use of underground stations for shelters was discouraged, but last night thousands of people stayed on the platforms when shrapnel made the streets death-traps. Many snatched a few hours’ sleep in spite of clattering trains. DAMAGE IN OTHER AREAS. LONDON, September 17. It is officially stated that small groups of enemy aircraft on Monday night again concentrated on Londom Many parts of London were bombed. A. number of fires were started. They were speedily extinguished. Houses and commercial buildings were damaged, and also a hospital, where there were no casualties. I Bombs were also dropped at rural i areas in the Home counties near I London. No damage resulted. Towns in the Midlands, in Wales, and in the north-east and north-west of England were also attacked. Some were damaged. There were some casualties. An enemy bomber was destroyed in the Midlands, after fouling a balloon cable. • Bombs have been dropped in a densely populated area in a northwest of England town, and also near a Welsh town.

In London, bombs fell on two famous West End squares. Bombs also fell in a world-famous shipping street during London’s, fifth raid. The raid lasted for 6 hours 33 minutes on Monday night and Tuesday morning. A fireman who was tackling an incendiary bomb in ’an upper room in the London area was killed when the raider returned and dropped a high explosive bomb. SHOPPING AREA. RUGBY, September 17. The West End, which contains London’s best-known shopping streets, hotels, and large private houses, suffered most in last night’s raids on London. Among the streets which were damaged were Bond Street, Oxford Street, Mayfair, Bruton Street, Park Lane, Saville Row, Regent Street, and Piccadilly. The Royal Arcade, Burlington Arcade, Burlington House, the headquarters of the Royal Academy, Burlington Gardens, and two famous squares, Berkeley Square and Sloane Square, also suffered. damage. Thus, the Nazi selftermed “reprisal raids” continue to strike at purely civil targets. ST. DUNSTAN'S DAMAGED. (Recd. September 18, 10.55 a.m.) LONDON, September 17. London had six air-raid alarms between 8.3 a.m. and 8.10 p.m. A few minutes before the third warning, railway passengers standing outside a station in the London area heard a plane above the clouds. An anti-aircraft gun fired one round. The .engine stopped, there was a terrific crash, and an explosion followed.

Soon after the fourth warning, gunfire was heard. An enemy machine was engaged over London, and the pilot was seen to bale out. A solitary raider bombed a southeast town, this morning, hitting the principal shopping centre and several private ‘ houses. Considerable damage was done, and there were a number of casualties. It is authoritatively stated that the places damaged last night include St. Dunstan’s headquarters, and Radnor House, Twickenham. The Peruvian Legation in Cadogan Square, which was recently hit by eight incendiaries and seriously damaged by fire, has become unusable. It was necessary tb demolish the upper part of the building. ENEMY’S FURTHER LOSSES RUGBY, September 17. It is now officially stated by the Air Ministry that during the night of Sunday and Monday, four enemy bombers, were shot down by anti-aircraft guns. A total of six enemy aircraft was therefore destroyed during that night, following the daylight battle in which the German Air Force lost 185 bombers and fighters. This night total, like the day total preceding it, made a record, being the largest number of enemy aircraft brought down during the hours of darkness since v the intensive operations by the German Air Force against south-east England and London began.

SEVEN ENEMY PLANES CRASHED RUGBY,' September 17. An Air Ministry and Home Security communique, issued at 11 p.m., states: Enemy activity was on a small scale on Tuesday until early in the afternoon. Although bombs were dropped in widely scattered districts, in the south and south-east of England, there was little damage, but a small number of people were killed'or injured in south-west London. At Portsmouth, a church and several houses were hit, and a small number of people injured. At about 3.15 p.m., several large waves of enemy aircraft crossed the coast .of Kent, flying in the direction of London, and a large force was dispatched to intercept the enemy. No major battle took place, but contact was made over Kent. -The enemy promptly scattered, and did not penetrate, further inland than Maidstone. Present reports show that so far before the enemy reached safety, our fighters destroyed five, and two were shot down by anti-aircraft fire. It is now known that only eleven of our pilots were lost in Sunday’s air battles.

TOTAL OF TWELVE RUGBY, September 18. An Air Ministry communique issued on Wednesday at 1.40 a.m. says: “Up to midnight, five enemy j bombers were shot down in attacks made in the south-east of England. During the darkness, four were destroyed by anti-aircraft guns and one by R.A.F. fighter squadrons. This makes a total of twelve enemy aircraft destroyed during Tuesday. Three of our fighters were lost or missing, as the result of Tuesday’s engagements, but the /pilots of two are safe. BATTLE DURING GALE. RUGBY, September 17. The Air Ministry news service states: After having their bomber squadrons cut to rags and tatters in Sunday’s fights over London, the Germans on Tuesday afternoon sent more than 200'' fighters •' across the Channel. Battles were fought in a 100-miles-per-hour gale over Kent, Sussex, Surrey, and. the Thames Estuary. Although our fighter pilots were handicapped by heavy clouds, when searching for the enemy, they destroyed four aircraft. Gunners on the south-east coast also shot down two.

The first formation of Messerschmitts approached the sea coast at ( 3 p.m. They continued to come over in waves of 20 and 30, for the next half-hour.

At 25,000 feet over Maidstone, 12 Spitfires routed a formation of Messerschmitts. Although these famous Fighter Command auxiliary pilots do not claim to have definitely destroyed any German machines, the pilots when they landed said: “One was swaying in a dive, with white smoke pouring from the fuselage. A second was flying very slowly at 1000 feet, and a third was spinning down, out of control.”

I GERMAN VERSION. (Received September 18, 11.55 a.m.) BERLIN, September 17. A communique states: Our coastal batteries reopened fire on Dover on September 16, hitting several British merchantmen. Air activity was limited to armed reconnaissance, owing to the unfavourable weather, but several aerodromes in the south of England, and the Midlands, Whitby harbour, and industrial works were effectively attacked. Shortly before noon, reprisals against London were resumed at intervals,, with increasing strength, continuing’ till morning. The harbour, dockyards, and military objectives were bombed. New fires were started. Liverpool was bombed at night. Two British planes were shot down, and one was destroyed on the ground. The enemy refrained from attacking Germany on September 16. WOMEN KILLED. (Recd. September 17, 11.40 a.m.) LONDON, September 17. West End sufferers in last night’s raids included well-known shops, some of which are closed. Others are carrying on behind empty, .glassless windows. A bomb fell on a big house, and killed four men who were working on the ground floor. They were buried under the ruins. Five rescue workers, speeding to their aid, were injured when a bomb landed in a nearby street. It is feared that some people taking shelter were buried when a highexplosive bomb completely wrecked two shops. Mrs Amy Noel, Commandant of the Women’s Legion, Miss Aileen Cooper, senior company commander, and Miss Phyllis. Phillips, senior company leader, were killed by a bomb on Sunday night, when they were operating a mobile canteen in the London area. “HITLER-NIGHT LIFE.” , RUGBY, September 17. Soon after 8 p.m., Londoners had the fifth air raid warning of the day, and heavy anti-aircraft gunfire was soon heard in central London as well as in suburban districts. Citizens, heartened by Mr. Churchill’s tribute to their courage, again settled down to a “Hitler night”, with the adaptability for which the Cockney spirit is Every variety of communal amusement is now resorted to by neighbours sheltering together, while “they are overhead,” and it is .difficult for an onlooker to realise, in the words of a neutral observer, that the Germans fondly imagine they are terrorising these patient, cheerful, undaunted people, i J

' N.Z. HOUSE STAFF. (Recd. Sept. 18, 1.3 Q p.m.). LONDON, September 17. A high-explosive bomb, hitting a huge Strand building, in which the New Zealand Fruit Sales Division is housed, did not damage the .office or interrupt the work. The London manager (Mr. H. Turner) said: “All the staff are safe and well.. , We were obliged to evacuate temporarily, when New Zealand 'House, which is opposite, was tem--1 porarily unoccupied.” ■ SHELTERS CRITICISED. LONDON,' September 17. The “Daily. Mail” asks in an .editorial whether the Government is doing all it can for civilians, whether proper shelters are provided, and whether complete arrangements are made to house those rendered homeless. The outcome of the battle largely depends on the people’s courage and endurance, it says, and the Minister for Home Security (Sir John Anderson) should immediately order the construction of deep bombproof shelters in every available open space. The lessons of the war elsewhere have not been learnt, and the outstanding fact is that the “dispersal” policy on which Sir John Anderson has based his plans, has failed, and public money is being wasted more and more on surface shelters, revealing lack of foresight, because surface shelters will not withstand continuous air attack.

( OVERCROWDING DANGER J LONDON, September 17. “The Times” says: Lord Horder has been appointed chairman of the Government Committee'to investigate the . effect on health of the present use of , the public shelters. There is much over-crowding in them, because of their increasing use as dormitories. Sir John Anderson is investigating the possibility of using the tube railways as shelters, providing that the movement of the trains is not hindered. People are beginning to resort to the underground railways as shelters after buying tickets. Steps are being taken to discourage the movement of people from the communal and garden shelters to the larger shelters elsewhere, -while the smaller shelters are being left almost empty. The Government is also giving attention to the problem of housing the large number of homeless people. RESCUE SERVICES. ' " (Recd. September 18, 11.40 a.m.) LONDON, September 17. Lord Caldecote stated, in the Lords, that for the week ended September 10, the rescue services in the five London boroughs were called out on 169 occasions, and'saved 216 lives. KILLED BY BARRAGE BALLOON. LONDON, September 17. At the inquest on a railwayman, Daniel Dunsden, it was revealed that the trailing cable of a break-away barrage balloon lassooed him around the waist, lifting him up and crashing his head against a telephone box, breaking his neck. The balloon drifted off to sea. CONTRACT FOR ENGINES. DETROIT, September 17. The British Armaments Purchasing Board has awarded the Packard Motor Coy. an order for six thousand Rolls-Royce motors at a cost of 125 million dollars. RELIEF OF DISTRESS AUSTRALIAN RESPONSE. — I MELBOURNE, September 17. The Commonwealth Government is sending £500,000 direct to London for the relief of the bombing victims. Victorian subscriptions now total £150,000. Money is still coming in at a fast j rate. WELLINGTON EXCEEDS QUOTA. .

WELLINGTON, September 17. In answer to the appeal of the Mayor of Wellington to the people of Wellington to subscribe as the city’s quota of the New Zealand contribution to the fund being raised by the Lord Mayor of London for the relief of victims of the German bomb, £5387 had been received at 3 p.m. to-day. The City Treasurer expects the total to reach £6OOO. U.S.A. CONTRIBUTIONS (Recd. September 18, 1.50 p.m.) WASHINGTON, September 17. The Red Cross has spent' almost 5,000,000 dollars in relief for Britain, mostly since the beginning of September. Twenty thousand dollars have just been cabled to assist in establishing 10 refugee cottages for poor children. Equipment is being assembled to establish 10,000 convalescent beds in English private homes. Since July, the Red Cross has sent 102 relief shipments by British ships, and two by the Clipper. None was lost.