CHANNEL GALE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21853, 25 October 1945, Page 5

CHANNEL GALE

MANY SHIPS SHELTER SEAS THROW UP MINES COAST TOWNS DAMAGED (10 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 24. Only the largest vessels were able to move across the Channel to-day as smaller vessels were forced by high seas to ride out an autumnal gale in south coast harbours. Twenty vessels of all nationalities were rolling and pitching of! Deal, some dragging their anchors, all being under careful watch by the coast guard and lifeboat men. • Naval bomb disposal squads and -fire service parties were anxiously watching the foreshore on which breakers, combining with the biggest tides of the year, were flinging up loose mines from "which several resort towns have already suffered damage. Damage was also caused when the sea broke over the promenade walls and flooded streets and scoured foundations of houses. A whirlwind extensively damaged the village of Titchfield in the battle of Hastings country of Hampshire. A 150 ft. steel television mast was blown down by a gust of wind and crashed on a row of suburban houses, smashing the roofs and penetrating the upper ' storey rooms. A number of people in the street had narrow secapes. A 120 ft. crane, one of the largest at Erith, Kent, costing £15,000, was blown over and fell on the wharves.

Seas at Sandgate tore a gap in the seawall. Residents on the seafront were warned to move before the high tide. All cross-Channel traffic has been stopped.