SCARS ON LONDON.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 139, 14 May 1941, Page 6

SCARS ON LONDON.

Ik evidence were needed of't he success of the studied devastation caused by the Itoyal Air Force on the war industries and resources of Germany, it is to be found in the insane fury with which the Luftwaffe again assailed Loudon on Saturday night. Here is no story of skilful bombing of vital points such as arsenals and the like, but the indiscriminate destruction of noble edifices, some of them centuries old, symbols of the Empire’s cultural, social, scientific, and humanitarian progress. It is such fury that reveals the Nazi monster at liis worst- —an insanity that causes not the people to tremble but to look, with sad eyes maybe, on treasures that to countless thousands are London, and set themselves even more firmly to the task of removing such a world menace for ever. To many people throughout the Empire, including millions who perhaps have never seen the heart of the nation, the buildings which have suffered in the latest big raid are more than mere stones and mortar—they are part of the life of the Empire. Stately Westminster Hall, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben “its face blackened and scarred but still familiarly chiming out the hour” —the hallowed Abbey beneath whose stone pavement lie the remains of the Unknown Warrior who is symbolic of the sacrifices made in another great cause, the British Museum, famous hospitals and other edifices— these, part of flic fabric of the Empire itself, were the targets of this amazing force which Goering was wont to declare could readily cripple Britain’s war potential and which would prevent the Royal Air Force from reaching the heart of Germany. This latest attenipt to set London on fire has failed because of the heroism of its people. It must be galling frustration indeed. As Berlin claims, the raid was a reprisal for the British attack on the German capital. The damage sustained is a big price to pay, but Britain and the whole Empire know London can stand up to such madness, which is but in keeping with the inhuman slaughter of women and children that Nazi “kultur” relishes. The heart of the Empire has been grievously scarred, but in the reconstruction of the world that will follow victory a new and even perhaps more stately London will arise, just as surely as the resolve of the Democracies will bring that victory.