RAIDS ON LONDON

Grey River Argus, 20 January 1943, Page 5

RAIDS ON LONDON

TEN ENEMY PLANES LOST Barrage Felt 30 Miles Away CASUALTIES IN 13 SUBURBS (Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] LONDON, Jan. 18 it is officially stated that th? number of casualties from Sunday night’s German raids on London and southeast England was not large, 'len enemj' bombers were destroyed. It is estimated that 25 to 30 planes participated in the two raids on London last night, but few penetrated the outer defences. No important public buddings were hit. The industrial damage was comparatively slight. Twelve deaths from antiaircraft shells are so far reported in addition to a number ol casualties in at least thirteen suburbs. The shell which fell in Buckingham Palace grounds caused no damage except the destruction of a vegetable plot. • There was hardly a moment when the sound of aeroplanes was not heard over the Channel. The noise of R.A.F. planes returning from Europe filled in.the interval between the two Luftwaffe raids. The raids quickly followed threats by the German radio of reprisals for the raid on Berlin the previous night. The first force of enemy aircraft came over soon after midnight and was met by a very heavy barrage. To fire-watchers it seemed that the raiders were trying to confuse the defences by com ng in from several directions at once, but they failed in the attempt. The second force came over just before dawn. There were casualties in some districts, some being caused by the heavy anti-aircraft barrage. Four of the German bombers attacking London last night were shot down by the Squadron Commander of a Beauhghter squadron. He thus established a new night-lighting record. A member of his squadron said the attackers were jumping all over the sky in attempts to evade the night lighters and were obviously jittery, before they even knew the lighters were there. A German raider attacked the Isle of Wight. There were tome casualties and damage. One enemy machine was shot down.

London Barrage SECRET WEAPONS. [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] (Rec. 9.40) LONDON, Jan. IS. The “Daily Mail” says: It was a nightmare barrage which routed the Luftwaffe over London on Sunday night. It was the result of months of planning by some of Britain’s best scientific brains. It contained some closely-guarded military secrets. New weapons were used for the first time. New methods were tried out which “foxed” the raiders. These forced many raiders to turn off at the outskirts. Great changes followed largescale experiments. Puzzled Londoners recently have watched searchlights chasing bombers while guns were silent. They were unwittingly spectators of important tests. When the Luftwaffe appeared, shells burst in a close pattern around raiders, lighting the sky with a red glow. London is now one of the world’s most strongly defended cities, and its defence is improving all the time. Almost all of the still secret guns were manned by Home Guards, who are on duty one night in eight. The master-mind behind the barrage was a high Army officer in a control room deep below. A central London officer controlled all of the guns as a conductor directs an orchestra. Ho spoke into a microphone, and his orders were echoed to those manning the guns from loud speakers. Radio location, which has made great strides since the blitz, enabled the A.T.S. to plot a course in the control room on a map, telling the G.O.C. exactly what the guns had to contend with. The “Daily Telegraph” stated: ■ When the barrage was at its height, people thirty miles from London felt the ground tremble. A WIRE BARRAGE [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] i Rec. 9.10) LONDON. Jan. 19. A German airman who was aboard one of the enemy raiders over London on Sunday night, when broadcasting later, revealed that the raiders met what he termed a “wire barrage.” He said that the flak was tremendous, but that night fighters were the worst problem. NIGHT BAG OF FOUR. R.A.F. PILOT’S FEAT. [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] (Rec. 12.50.) s LONDON, Jan. 19. A Beaufighter pilot, Wing-Com-mander C. M. Wright-Boycott, has become a hero overnight as the result of a revelation that he shot down four of the ten German raiders that were destroyed over England on Sunday night. This is' a Royal Air Force record. LONDON’S A.A. SHELLS CAUSE 83 CASUALTIES [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] (Rec. 9.10) LONDON, Jan. 19. The “Daily Telegraph” says: Antiaircraft shells, which do not explode till hitting the ground, and shell splinters killed twenty-three persons and injured sixty persons during Sunday night’s raid. RAIDS ON MONDAY NIGHT (Rec. 11.25) RUGBY, Jan. 19. It is stated in London that in the early part of Monday night there was a little enemy air activity over the ■coastal ’districts of ’the south-east of England. Bombs which wer«* dropped caused only a small number of casualties, and damage, which was nowhere extensive. THREAT TO LONDON. WORSE RAIDS TO COME. [Aust. &■ N.Z. Cable Assn.] (Rec. 12.50.) LONDON, Jan. 19. The German spokesman and the press at Berlin declare that the two latest raids on London are a foretaste of what will happen if the British do not shop bombing Berlin. (Rec. 12.55.)/ LONDON, Jan. 19. The Paris radio says that the Luftwaffe in its; latest London raids dropped a new 1 type of. delayed-action incendiaries. SOUTH-EAST ENGLAND TOWN SUFFERS HEAVY DAMAGE (Rec. 9.10) LONDON, Jan. 18. German aircraft raided a town on the south-east coast of England. There were no casualties caused, but heavy damage was done to the town.