QUIETER DAY

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 September 1940, Page 7

QUIETER DAY

FEWER BOMBS DROPPED LATEST DAMAGE IN LONDON GERMANS LOSE FIVE MACHINES

[BRITISH OFFICIAL WIRELESS.]

' 'rugby, September 19. An Air Ministry''and Ministry of Home Security communique states: No large-scjile air action has been reported during the day. Two enemy aircraft dropped bombs in districts of south-east London, causing some damage and casualties. Both were engaged by our fighters, and one was shot down. ‘ Bombs are also reported from the coastal areas of Essex and Sussex, and at one point in the west of England. ' The number of casualties is small. In spite of bad visibility, our fighters successfully intercepted a large proportion of the enemy, and five enemy bombers in all have been destroyed. SINGLE RAIDER’S HAVOC. (Received September 20, 10.55 a.m.) LONDON, September 19. A' slight mist is hanging over the Dover Straits, the sky is overcast, and there is a stiff south-westerly wind, the Air Ministry stated. Our fighters shot down three enemy bombers, this morning. " A single German raider bombed the London area, this afternoon, doing considerable damage. South-east England was also bombed, but, apart from isolated attacks which caused several casualties, German activity over England was exceptionally slight., A number of the Home Office windows were broken by a blast. & The Commoner, Miss Ellen Wilkinson’s flat was bombed twice, in her absence.

COUNTY COUNCIL HALL. RUGBY, September 19. The following message from the leader of the London County Council was 'made public:—“Although the fabric of the County Hall received some damage, I want to assure the public of London that civil defence and other services of the London County Council are being maintained. In unity with, and.service for London, the County Hall carries on.” RESCUES FROM DEBRIS. LONDON, September 19. The daily .occurrence of people spending the day, waiting for release from beneath the debris of " razed buildings, has been repeated in several districts. The man who was rescued from a buried automobile in a West End garage, on September 19, died in hospital. Twenty-five hours after ( a bomb wrecked a shop, rescuers heard faint baby cries.; It was a four-months’-old child, lying in a drawer. The parents and grandmother were killed. Scores of people, clad in night- ; attire, extinguished a series of fires which a “Molotov breadbasket” started in a northern residential area. The heaviest casualties resulted from an explosion following the crashing of a raider, fully loaded with bombs. Numbers of buildings were demolished. A rescue party; was struggling all night to release persons imprisoned underground' when a wall collapsed. The majority of the treasures, in- j eluding the Doomsday Book, housed in the Public Records Office, also in museums, were removed to safety after the outbreak of the war. A bomb in a suburb destroyed a Methodist church and five adjoining houses. A bomb caused a 30ft. crater on the County Hall Terrace, nearest to Westminster Bridge. Two waitresses were killed, and there were a dozen casualties. . . Lord Croft stated that many incendiary bombs had fallen on the Royal Hospital at Chelsea, but there were no casualties, and the buildings were undamaged. GERMAN CLAIMS. (Recd. Sept. 20, 11.55 a.m.) BERLIN, September 19. A communique states: We again attacked military objectives in the Loridon neighbourhood, damaging the Tilbury docks and harbour and the Chatham dockyards, setting fire to an oil depot at Port Victoria. -. Other targets successfully attacked include the Royal Albert Docks, Silvertown, Liverpool harbour, Billingham chemical works, Newcastle docks, and Midland aerodromes.

, WEDNESDAY’S RAIDS. CASUALTIES HEAVIER. LONDON, September 19. The. German Air Force lost 48 aeroplanes in attacks on Britain yesterday. The raiders’ main objective was London, but during daylight very'few got through. The Royal Air Fores lost 12 fighters, but nine of the pilots are safe. • The official communique issue£ this, morning by the Air Ministry states: “Enemy attacks on this country were continued during the night, when high explosive bombs were scattered blindly from individual machines which crossed the coast in small groups. The main object of the attacks has been small dwellinghouses in the residential districts. “A number of fires were caused in London, but the work of the volunteer fire brigade units was again beyond all praise, and before the night was-over all of the fires had been brought under control, and nearly all had been extinguished. - “It is estimated- that 90 persons, were killed and 350 seriously wounded yesterday. ■ _ ' . “Outside London, enemy activity was widespread, but the damage done was comparatively slight’. The areas attacked included the Merseyside, Lancashire, Hertfordshire, Sussex, Berkshire, Essex, the east coast, and the south-west of England. In most cases the raids seemed to be designed to terrorise the working-class districts.” The first of the . two bombers-shot dowfi last night was brought down over a Berkshire village. The aero-

plane crashed in a‘field with a terf rific explosion and was blown to bits. Some damage was done to farm pro- - perty nearby, blit there were no civilian casualties. The second mas chine was shot down over South London. It crashed with its full ’ load of bombs in a residential area, and it is feared that, the casualties ’ may be heavy. [ MOST SAVAGE ATTACK YET. 3 ' LONDON, September 19. Many observers regard Wednesday . night’s raid on London as (having . been the most savage yet. The Ger- > man airmen flew lower than ever. ’ They took suicidal • chances in frenziedly endeavouring to pierce the 1 vast and hellish curtain of fire around and over London. , The raiders made no effort to seek out military objectives. They sought only to unload their bombs as near as possible to the heart of the capital. The chief gain from this barbaric . onslaught was the. damaging of objects of historic interest throughout the world, .and the devastation of private property. The enemy’s would-be reprisals have become expressions of blind fury at Britain’s resistance. Two raiders fell with a terrific explosion in a south-west London sub-J urb. There was a stirring scene enacted in Central London, when a bomb set afire a famous building. Over a thousand were sheltering in its vaults. They formed up like a battalion, parading, and marched in per- . feet order to nearby surface shelters. . Two. explosive bombs dropped in the north of London demolished five houses. Numerous, other bombs that fell nearby extensively damaged pro- ’ per.ty. In the north-west of England, a town experienced its fiercest attack since the outbreak of the war. Bombs rained' there at random, indicating that the raiders’ chief object was ; terror. J FORTY-EIGHT TO . TWELVE J RUGBY, September 19. It is now known in Wednesday’s ‘ air battles over England, that 48 j enemy aircraft were destroyed, one j. by anti-aircraft gunfire. Two R.A.F. r pilots, previously reported missing, ( are safe. The British losses for the ; day, therefore, were twelve fighters, j the Dilots of nine being saved. < i ROYAL VISIT. f

RUGBY, September 19. The King and Queen once again spent the morning visiting areas, this time in the south-west and west of London, which suffered from the bombs of the Nazi night-raiders,, and once again they were greeted by smiling faces and undaunted enthusiasm. The police made no attempt to keep the people away, and the King and Queen walked amid scenes of devastation, with cheering men, women, and children brushing alongside them.’ ’A time-bomb exploded 80 yards i from the Automobile in which the i Duke of Kent was touring bombed ' areas. A shower of rubble rained on | the car. ■ COMMONS AND SHELTERS. LONDON, September 18. The following report on the secret session of the House of Commons was issued with the authority of Mr. Speaker to-day: “The House went into secret session and a debate took place on the recent aerial bombardment of the country. Members representing London and other constituencies affected, drew attention to the many problems that had arisen. The Minister for Home Security (Sir John Anderson) and the Minister for Health (Mr. Malcolm MacDonald) replied.” At a private meeting of members of Parliament the question of additional shelters was discussed. Early in the war it was stated that the London underground would not be available as an air raid shelter, but many people have persisted in taking their bedding down to tube stations, against the rules. It is emphasised that the tube system is a vital link in London’s transport, and the good sense of citizens is appealed to to avoid possible dislocation.

THE SPEAKER’S REPORT . RUGBY, September 19. The following report of to-day’s proceedings in the Commons’ secret session is issued under the authority of the Speaker: “The House went into secret session, and the debate on the aerial bombardment of the country was continued. Members raised points in connection with transport dnd other subjects, 'and the Minister of Transport made a statement.” REST CENTRES FOR HOMELESS RUGBY, September 18. The latest feature of London suburban life is the provision of- rest centres by the local authorities, where meals and temporary shelter are arranged for those whose homes-have been destroyed or made untenable by enemy air action. The aim of the •scheme is to provide accommodation for a few days while arrangements are made for persons who have lost their homes either to travel to those of friends or relatives, or to be placed; in billets or empty houses taken over Iby the local authorities. ’ Travel vouchers are being provided for those unable to pay their fares. In some cases it is likely that the return to their homes may be possible within a short period, when repairs Jiave been, executed or unexploded bombs dealt with. The local authorities also arrange for the protection of ! furniture and property left behind and, if. necessary, remove and store it.

The Marqiiess of Londonderry has offered his Park Lane mansion. Londonderry House, one of the rpost fam- ’ ous mansions in England, for the housing of families made homeless by bombings. The offer was made in re-

'sponse to the Lord Mayor’s appeal for the London Distress Fund. • . The Parliamentary Secretary to ■ the Ministry, of Home Security, announcing, in a broadcast speech, that active steps were being taken to improve the air-raid shelter facilities in London ' both in regard to the amenities in the existing shelters, and for ex-tending-the provision of public shelters where the occuparits can gain satisfactory rest, said: - “The enemy wants to make casualties of us all. Unfortunately, he must make casualties of some of us, and we all sympathise with those who have, suffered already, and admire the fortitude with which the sufferings are being borne. But if each of us, by individual efforts in studying the use of shelter, can deprive the enemy of one casualty, then we too, like the soldiers in the line, shall have played an active part.” BEDS AT TUBE STATIONS LONDON, September 19. Although the Ministry of Home Security has appealed to the public, and especially to able-bodied men, not to use tube stations as shelters, hundreds of thousands last night swarmed to underground platforms before the sirens sounded. The stations present onC of the capital’s strangest spectacles now, and Londoners have overcome the earlier diffidence caused by notices at the entrances forbidding the use of sta- , tions as shelters. Thousands of East ' Enders arrive at West End stations be- • fore dusk, equipped with blankets and baskets of food. They buy a pen- ] ny ticket to pass the barriers and ( make up their beds two or three deep, j Police last night strolled up and j down while newsvendors sold the la- j test editions of the evening papers, i Dozens of babies slept peacefully be- j side their parents, for many of whom ( the stations provide their only roof , since, the destruction of their homes, t

TRIBUTES TO WORKERS LONDON, September 18. The Minister for Labour (Mr. Ernest Bevin) and the Secretary of State for Air (Sir Archibald Sinclair) to-day paid a tribute to the British workers for the part they were playing in the war. Every time British workers stayed on the job while danger threatened, said Sir Archibald, they were driving so many nails into Marshal Goering’s coffin. Mr. Bevin said he was intensely thankful to the workers who continued their jobs after the sirens had sounded. RUSSIAN ESTIMATE LONDON, September 19. ■ The Russian newspaper “Pravda” states that the present raids on London are only a stage in the attack on Britain. A German invasion depended on Germany attaining air superiority, and the Royal Air Force was still holding off the German aeroplanes. The damage caused in Great Britain was not decisive. Germany had not succeeded in consolidating her numerical superiority in the air, or crushing Britain’s air defences, especially the British fighting aero - planes. The time was coming when the Germans must make up their minds to attempt the crossing of that fatal 25 miles of sea that has guarded Britain for many centuries, and then the British Navy would enter the struggle..