WAR IN THE AIR

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 19 September 1934, Page 10

WAR IN THE AIR

T-vf • : . .3 : * 5'., S NIGHT RAID ON LONDON WA s" " SI ■ , ; HUNDRED’ kA.citlifES ’D'SED - ‘ ' . " _ S‘ i : -r.' •••' ’v .. . m DEFENCES PIERCED. . ,t- a ■yj* ■ *■'* *'■:**' ' • •*' • ’Sfe • I V■.- V - , t’ ■■ \ •V. "• - • r<4i has experienced the greatest ||air raid 7 ’ in 'its history, says the f*d>aiiy Telegraph.” , , H-One. hundred and twenty- bombing aeroplanes flew over the capital, carrying their grim cargoes to its ■ most, vital points, while ninety 'defendingfighters/ aided by anti-aircraft batterihs ahd the civilian Observer Corps, s'ought to 'Waylay 1 and destroy them:". /An' official communique aniiouifced that in the first-'-'-flaylight—attack seven targets in the metropolitan area were reached and bombed by- the attacking forces. There were further at* f&cks after dark.’- '; " >■' y’ The ■ 4 raid 7 7 was the biggest R/A.P. njanoenvre of the year, 'designed to test the efficiency of London 7 s air defences.' - • • S 3 With curious appropriateness it coincided with the Labour Party’s motion' of censure on the ■Government’sair expansion policy in the House of Lords, Which was; defeated' by 54 votes to 9. A*t times the' speech of the Air Minister, the Marquis of Londonderry, was drowned by the roar of' the engines'of the attacking machines. ' Between tea and dinner time .we had bombed London_and destroyed the Marble Arch, writes a-representative' of the paper with the' attacking ma-' chines.' • ‘ '•; ’■) K OAt least, so wC believe; for if may ifro that within the’ “artillery belt” some anti-aircraft guns accounted for :ua before w reached our objective. But we feel that-this is''unlikely. We; for the purpose of' this dispatch, are Jfo. 338 Squadron' of “Hart” 'Day Bombers, to whose company T was 'ht-‘ laehed for the evpnirig’s manoeuvres. Sit was-perfect bbmbing weather; I told —a heavy, misty day* on'‘the ground;'"'wifh.‘'a‘ : ' hinf-'df' croviff’ higE”d? up. The attach • was - launched from mid-Channel,-at .a height of 16,000 ft.. In wool-lined boots, fur-lined -Sidcot Suits, and all-the ‘cumbrous safety ap-paratus'proper-to an- observer, I'‘stood Or sat behind a Lewis gun and watched the landscape of' Kent going l front green and yellow to dun'and finally vanish in a vast irregular plain'' of cloud, ....

. •; ORUSSED' UNSEEN. ' ' • The nine machines, now invisible from the-ground, made their way over ■ the ! Chahnql,.at.,a; steady 120 m.p.h. At a . signal; from the leader We turned, abdj still climbing,madefofDungeness at nearly three miles a minute. Fhr below us the vast- fantastic valley' of - fiocculent cloud was. breaking: up!. But \ we -Were jstill able to /cfosk • i th'e ? c'6&st invisibly. At intervals We -braved .an outside wind which ! howle.d through the struts and slapped tfie Laoe. . ~ d’jie. fields,; with, the hedges-between ipolGng/'iike a> vein of ivy-leaf, ; were often,invisible^-and, -When' seen, -were grey iand iiidietinet. -East Grinstead, our ; rO‘ute 'Objective, passed unnoticed, and then, 'wq- headed directly north! Wje : 'Were' half through the “artillery zone,” but it .could hafdly . be thought' that! the gunners' would find, us a possible' target,'so .difficult and .uneven was ; the .below. -In a, few minutes we, were in, the.;“ intereeptor zone” and on. the; waich for Northland’s fighter aeroplanes.' ? : v . .. .. /Suddenly wh saw the enemy- several' thousand feet'’ below tb ‘ the left—a ■bunch of interceptors who vanished in' a matter of seconds. They had not Jaeenjus.;- r ■ we recognised Croy-. don iaerpdromey The clouds were drifting and .<npvf apd again- one- caught, a glimpse, .of London. - .»/ . - - ! By a happy chance the clouds parted'just over the Marble Arch, called in official Orders 4 4 Buffalo, ’ 7 for some' reason best kncfwji to the official, mind. It represented ’ a military ’ depot for Northland: Army' Reservists. There was a flashlight .signal from- the . leader, indi.cating that our bombs were dropped, and, ; with a wide circling movement, .We turneCf back and headed straight f or the. ~eoasti . / Flying over ,the sea from Angmering to Folkestone, over a vast thunder’cloud, we, arrived back at Hawkinge in perfect formation. As a! Londoner I could pot but feel apprehensive.', As an. airman, if a temporary,one, I enjoyed.q sense of ex-hilaration.-and. triumph. ; ... , • ; ;■ THE DEFENCE.- . , :■ V .1 . waited;, f for “.Southland's,?’ air rdlders on the roof of- the Air Ministry , in'Kings way —for the purpose of. thei attack :a‘lso -’the Air Ministry- of tho; “Northland’ 7 defending force, writes Major ‘G. ' C! Turner, who was observing v fhe‘ pfotectdfs' of' London. Beside me 'fin'the ro6f Was a' chmera cffiscura, manned by a few R.A.F. men "Who!were waiting to trace on paper the! course of any aircraft overhead, ifo, observe the .fed Verey .lights fired

to bombing, and to estimate whether a hit had been made. Twelve minutes before 7. ..o'clock we-sighted the first, two squadrons approaching from the south-east. They wefe.. about, .5000 feet up, .and were beigg dogged by a.-squadron of fighters.; .They swerved to the left, and ,apparently bombed Imperial Chemical House—Northland's seat, of Government. : Then,. maKing a wide sweep northwards; they, -came right’ overhead . dropping. 41 bombs, 7 ' but, I - believe, missing, their target. :Qk they went, twenty-one -machines, =with’ anti-aircraft “shells” bursting aroUiid, them, and, in somewhat ragged formation, 1 disappeared towards the south-east. : " Ay few minutes later-a whole wing of three squadrons, flying in' “squadrons astern,'’' came over-London'from the north-west, bombing .objective after objective. ’ ; There were thirty-six machines, all “Gordon,” day-bombers—a stately procession. They appeared' to bomb the Uxbridge headquarters, Imperial Chemical [House, the Air Ministry, au-di the docks. Returning,- they made for the north, and a fighting squadron gave ■battle on the outskirts of London.

1 .. IN ONE MINUTE As I gazed at the expanse of London below, and looked up at those formidable, fleets,, it was mot • difficult to- envisage the terrible danger to which London, is exposed unless protected by a defence /system,,, which would not only;! ward -off - the worst of -such, attacks, but, by counter-measures, woulddeter.any enemy from the attempt. . . Earlier in the day I saw striking evidence-. of the speed of the defence system dt one of “Northland’s” aerodroutes south of London. After the alarm had sounded on the big Klaxon horn it only took one minute for one squadron to take off. Very often it fakes less than two miniites from the moment the squadron leader receives his instructions. The iiistrue'tibns are given' following the receipt of a' warning from an Observer Corps—which is often transmitted to headquarters in no more' than four seconds.

Five other raids were made by single pquadrona. ! There.were further raids by seven bomber, squadrons after dark on London and; other. centres.. As. the .machines flew over London they could be followed for miles in the light of the searchlights. Over 150 searchlights, equipped with sound ' units, were at work. At 1.15 a.m. a solitary raider came up from the south-east and for fifteen minutes hovered over the Strand

and: Fleet Street, apparently dropping sufficient bombs to lay the greater part of Fleet Street in ruins. | " OFFICIAL ACCOUNT Thb official Air Ministry narrative of the air exercises reveals considerable success by Southland’s attacking bombers.; The three squadrons of thirty-six machines which made a' spectacular attack on the Air'Ministry an hour after the'opening of operations reached their target without being intercepted. Out of the seven targets in the London' area which were bombed, four were- definitely hit. One of the .reasons why all the raids were not intercepted was probably due to the overloading of, and certain lack of smoothness in, the communications.’ This generally occurs in the commencement of a peace exercise, but invariably rectifies itself as the exercise proceeds. Another important contributory cause of the bombers’ escape from interception was the successful manner in which they were handled in approaching their objectives and carrying out their attacks 1 . The night phase commenced shortly after 9 o’clock with perfect weather for night operations. The first attacks were directed against the target at- Coventry. Except fof one of the Southland squadrons which operated its aircraft in groups of three the attacks were made by single aircraft. Thirty-nine separate raids were carried out from heights varying between 4000 and 9500 ft. and twenty-nine hits were recorded, each, raid comprising two attacks on the targets. Of the thirty-nine raids thirty-three were intercepted by the night fighters, and in many cases more than one atthek on the bombers was carried out. THE- LAST PHASE. Three Southland Hart Squadrons carried out diving bombing attacks on. Northolt, North Weald, and Hornchurch (Northland occupied aerodromes) with good” results during the third phase, in the morning of July 24. Attacks were made by two speeial reserve squadrons on the Marble Arch and Imperial Chemical Industries, but poor visibility made It impossible to record results. One squadron was attacked on the way in and Northland fighters claim attacks on the way out. A wing formation of three Smithland Gordon squadrons numbering thirty-three aircraft, came up the Thames to Dartford, and in three separate squadron formations, attacked targets at Dagenham- , West India Docks, and No. 1 Stores Depot, Kidbrdoke. 1

Thick haze over the Dagenham area made it impossible to record results. The; squadron that made this attack was not intercepted. West India Docks were hit, but the bombers were attacked by Northland fighters, both on the way in and out. The Gordon squadron attacking the Stores Depot at Kidbrooke was heavily engaged three times by three different Northland squadrons before they bombed. The. bomber attack was only partially successful.

In peace exercise the bomber units are ordered to maintain their formations and carry on to their objectives even when intercepted by the fighters. In war, casualties would be inflicted by the defending forces, and it is possible that the enemy bomber formations would be broken up with the result that the raids would be reduced materially in effect, if not altogether frustrated.