HOW LONDON “TAKES IT”

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 September 1940, Page 7

HOW LONDON “TAKES IT”

TRIBUTES FROM NEUTRALS GERMAN CLAIMS DISPROVED [BRITISH OFFICIAL WIRELESS.] RUGBY, September 19. Now that the German air fury has been unleashed upon the greatest city in the world, whose streets, buildings, and monuments, enjoy the sentimental regard of millions scattered through the five continents, the damage inflicted by bombs has a news value far in excess of its intrinsic importance. The result might well be to give those abroad, a distorted picture of the actual injury inflicted by these wanton attacks. But the reports of foreign newspaper correspondents, to judge by the extracts from their newspapers, telegraphed back to London, have in fact, succeeded in keeping the tale of destruction in the proper proportion. The “New York Times” reminds its readers 'that out of millions of buildings, only two Thousand have, been destroyed, and three thousand seriously damaged, while the t 011../ of life, terrible as it is, considering that 95 per cent, of the victims are helpless civilians,’ is even less damaging.

An Americans Agency message, surveying the ten days’ constant raids on London, says: They have demonstrated how difficult- it is to paralyse London’s life traffic. Many points are dislocated, but in no sense is it halted. No public utility in the London area has been put out of commission for any considerable length of time, in any large district. In the same, sense, the “HeraldTribune’s” correspondent bears witness that most rail services in and out of London continue to operate to full schedule. ‘

This fact is also noted by the “Chicago Tribune’s” correspondent, who adds: This means that food supplies are assured. '

The plentiful food supplies also impressed a Finnish correspondent, who says that no difference, whatever, is visible in the restaurants. Wallace Carroll, the United Press correspondent in London, was given an opportunity of consulting the confidential reports of the Ministry of Home Security. He telegraphed that these reports convinced him the furious German air bombardment, through ten days and nights, had inflicted severe damage and suffering on London, but left Britain’s war machinery, as a whole, unimpaired. He adds:-Not one aerodrome has been put out of action. Reports stated the aircraft industry was hardly scratched, and oil stores destroyed were said to be only a fleabite in Britain’s reserves. No power-station had been put out of action, but one gasworks had been disabled. Most of London’s railroad stations were operating normally, but some services on others had been suspended. Ships continued to move in and out. of Port London. These and other assertions, contained in the reports, correspond to my inspection of aerodromes, factories and other military objectives.” - Naturally, reports are flashed from London when it is known great departmental stores such as John Lewis, and Peter Robinson’s have been hit, or that bombs have fallen with the possibility of serious damage to cultural treasures in such places as the courtyard of the Wallace collection, inner Temple Library, Public Record Office, and the courtyard of the British Museum, but foreign observers’ reports show that to them the real news story lies in the spirit of Londoners under nightly bombardment. From two widely separated parts of the world come comment on the large part which is played by the oral or visual proof of effectiveness of defence measures, in creating confidence.

GUNS LULL TO SLEEP. One American correspondent tells the readers of his newspaper in the Middle West that “the English are finding the constant sight of wrecked German war-birds throughout the city, the best possible medicine for their morale. With the charred remains of Junkers on every hand, they do not need the propaganda 'department to tell them their defences are effective.” The London correspondent of a Finnish newspaper, “Uusi Suomi,” tells the Finns how the Londoners are lulled to sleep by the. roar of their own guns. “When a Londoner hears anti-aircraft guns roar, he falls asleep peacefully, and tired faces are no longer visible in the morning.” The most striking witness to the spirit of London was given by M. Wauters, former Belgian Minister of Information, and editor of the Brussels newspaper “Le People,” who is now in London.

In an open letter to a number of friends, he recounts: “To-night, I spent eight hours in a public shelter full of workers and petits bourgeois. These people’s’ god humour, cordiality and solidarity in distress was profoundly moving. During the whole of those eight hours, I heard not one word of complaint or recrimination, and not a word against the authorities. Here, once more, are the deep roots of that great democratic tradition which ensures that the people have confidence in their rulers, because it, controls them. If Goering decided on his savage bombardments in order to provoke an exodus on the roads he has completely failed. The roads will not be choked up here as they were in Belgium and France. The Germans will not have the chance to assassinate 40,000 civilians in flight, as they did on the road from Paris to Chartreux.” An almost identical impression is made on the shrewd American observer, H. R. Knickerbocker, who has seen people under the strain of war in half-a-dozen areas, in as many years. He reports: “Londoners, and the English people in general, stubbornly, invincibly, and even stupidly, if you like, refuse to become afraid. This sort of destruction certainly is not going to win the war.”

MARKETS FULLY SUPPLIED. > RUGBY, September 19. The complete failure of the enemy raids to impair London’s food supplies, as claimed by the Minister of Food (Lord Woolton) is well borne out in reports made last night by two Amerigan correspondents.- > John McVane, broadcasting from London on the National Broadcasting system, said: “One of the N.B.C. observers came through Covent Garden, and found it crammed with every kind of fruit and vegetables.

You can imagine there boxes of Tasmanian apples, South African grapefruit, and lettuce by the truckload, and many other perishable commodities, which must have been brought in during the night. This does not mean that this big town has not been badly battered in the past 24 hours. It is merely a reminder that London is a vast area, which cannot' be knocked out by a few bombers in a few days, or even weeks of constant raiding.” H. R. Knickerbocker, in a message to New York, wrote: “This' sort of destruction is certainly not going to win the war, and to-day, after touring the city’s principal markets, I can testify that the German radio’s claim that the Luftwaffe is gradually, starving London, is simply imbecile. If there is any shortage at Coveni Garden, London’s i biggest and mostfamous market, it is not visible to the naked eye. It takes just as long now to thread one’s way through its lanes and alleys, piled-mountain-high with every variety of food, as ever it did. in peace-time.”