BOMBED BY NAZIS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20379, 16 October 1940, Page 5

BOMBED BY NAZIS

HOME FOR AGED RAIDING IN MIDLANDS FIERCE LONDON DEFENCE MOST INTENSE ATTACK EXPLOSIONS IN MID-AIR (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British Official Wireless.) Reed. noon. RUGBY, Oct. 16. An Air Ministry communique states that London and towns of the Midlands were the principal objectives of last night’s raids by the German air force. All fires were speedily brought under control. A number of persons were killed and others injured in London and suburbs and in the Midlands. The German night-raiders used a new type of bomb which is both explosive and incendiary. It explodes in. midair. The raid on London was the most intensive yet launched. The barrage was in action almost continuously throughout the night. Three bombs wrecked several houses in a residential district of London. Two people were admitted to hospital. Casualties are believed to have been caused at a convent when bombs fell on a Roman Catholic- Church, damaging the church and the convent offices. A man was killed and six injured by another bomb nearby. Occupants of Home Killed

During a raid on a Midlands town bombs fell on a home for aged women, killing three and injuring 10 of the occupants. Another bomb struck a departmental store. Others demolished houses and damaged office buildings and busines premises.

A communique issued by the Air Ministry and Ministry of Home Security to-night states: “There have been a number of attacks in this country to-day by enemy aircraft, mostly fighters, in the • first attack about 9 o’clock. Bombers also crossed the coast. A few penetrated to London. In London a certain number of bombs were dropped in the south and east, but the damage does not appear to have been heavy. The casualties were few, but some persons were killed. Elsewhere a few bombs were dropped. No serious damage is reported.” Nine Raiders Destroyed In to-day’s air encounters over Britain the number of enemy aircraft destroyed as ascertained up to 5.30 p.m. was nine. Ten Royal Air Force fighters are reported missing. The German news agency in Berlin claims that German bombers, while attacking London and other towns, machine-gunned a camp in the south of England. The Berlin radio claims that the Luftwaffe dropped 350 tons of bombs on England in the last 24 hours compared with six to eight tons dropped by the Royal Air Force on Germany and occupied territory. The Rome radio said to-day: “After destoying 60' per cent of London s industrial works and practically the whole of the docks, the Luftwaffe is -giving attention to Government buildings, newspapers and news agencies. The new tactics are part of the further disintegration of London life.”