SUNDAY’S HAVOC

Grey River Argus, 11 September 1940, Page 5

SUNDAY’S HAVOC

Torpedo Kills 50 EARLY MORNING BOMBING. LONDON, September 9. , Further details of Sunday night’s raids are as follows:— Two streets in central London suffered severe damage from a bomb which fell near a’ newspaper office situated in this area. A heavy bomb directly hit a blocx of tenement buildings, and demolished for 40 yards the centre of the block. It is feared that residents are still buried under the debris. I Incendiary and high-explosive bombs, falling in quick succession in clusters in another Central London' street, severely damaged scores of ■shops, business premises, public houses, and cafes. Flames were coming irom the wreckage hours after the raid, A road junction was damaged when heavy bombs burst, smashing property and damaging gas mains. Five young women are missing, following the bombing of a hospital in Central London. Other people were injured. The secretary stated. that the two top storeys, mainly | nurses’ quarters, were ruined. The windows of one ward were blown in. The patients and nurses were splendid. Damage in one Central London area extended over a-quarter of a mile radius, and not a single property escaped damage. An institute had all its windows blown in, but there was no panic among the 1,400 inmates, aged from 60 to 100 years. Fifteen were injured. The worst effect in underground shelters was at an office building in Central London, where many people were buried in shelters, of whom several were killed. It is believed, that they were trapped through one corner falling in, as a result of the terrific force of the explosion, which shattered the walls in neighbouring buildings. Others became a hollow shell. Huge baulks of timber and other supports lay mingled with massive pieces of plaster and bricks, in a tangled mass of debris. An outside cellar, being used as a shelter, caved in, burying the occupants, who were subsequently extricated. South-west London received a terrible pasting, especially between 2 a.m. and 4.30 a.m. Fires started earlier in the night brought back the raiders. Bombs fell with scarcely an intermission.

One south-western shelter received a direct hit, and it is believed that many people were killed. The explosion fractured a gas-main in the road, starting a fire which was visible at a great distance. There was a scene of devastation at the corner of two London roads, where a huge block of flats was badly damaged, and fire broke out. Ambulances were for several hours engaged in taking casualties to hospital. A cinema adjoining was practically wrecked. The raiders, after starting tires with incendiary bombs in the East London area, tried to prevent firefighting by ’ dropping screaming bombs. Firemen 0n...c0011y. Large areas in the East End were cordoned off, this morning, owing to the danger of the collapse of buddings. Gas is escaping from the mains in some areas. Several loud explosions in another, area brought the tired wardens back to duty, but it was discovered that the explosions were due to delayedaction bombs. Utility undertakings in the docks area were seriously damaged. The gas was cut off over a large district. Two screaming bombs which fell in the North London area, struck residences, lifting several roofs bodily into the air. Passengers in a South London train watched a plane dropping bombs, after which the plane collided with a balloon, and both fell in flames. Train services are busily attempting to ieturn to normality, but services from the dock stations are suspended. Over 50 people were killed when an aerial torpedo demolished an East London block of flats. Rescue parties extricated 20 bodies. Seven people, including a mother and father, and their daughter and her child, were killed when a highexplosive bomb hit a garden shelter in south-east London. A dock area' fire station was burnt out, when a bomb scored a direct hit. Notwithstanding the fires and damage, business in the> docks area went on as usual. The docks to-day presented a surprisingly normal appearance. About 2500 people were transferred from the fire-damaged East End district also 800 from the area bordering the river. Mobile canteens are meeting the immediate food requirements. “Everyone has been splendid in providing food, taking in children, and lending clothes,” said a London County Council official. “The Council is caring for those rendered homeless ”

The Air Ministry announced: The casualties for last night are not assessable, but it is not expected that they will exceed Saturday’s figure. The King, during his tour of the raid areas in east and south-east London, was obviously moved when he saw A.R.P. workers still searching for bodies.l The i aiders last night bombed a hospital in the London area, which was unoccupied, being reserved for raid casualties. They reduced a three-story wing to rubble. Another wing was damaged.

A bomb, striking a museum, caused a fire which burnt off the roof of the cast wing. Another bomb demolished a house immediately opposite, and a third damaged another house nearby. Another museum in the London area was also damaged. 150 PLANES ENGAGED. It is authoritatively estimated that at lease 150 enemy machines, mostly operating singly, were engaged in last night’s raids. Spitfires are believed to have shot down three Messerschmitts over south-east London, this evening, when big bombers, escorted by fighters, attacked the Metropolis. Some bombed the Inner London area.