Longest Daylight Raid on London

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 237, 7 October 1940, Page 8

Longest Daylight Raid on London

SINGLE PLANES OVER CITY YESTERDAY United Pre?* Association—l 3 y Electric Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, Oct. 4. London to-day experienced its long* eat daylight -warning, single planes continuing to circle suburbs, where a number of incendiary bombs were dropped. Six raiders this afternoon divebombed a south-east centre, directly bitting the frout of an historic castle. They demolished two streets, and craters were left in several roadways. There were a number of fatalities. A solitary bomber dropped two whistling bombs on a town on the south-east coast, smashing church windows and causing several fatal casualties. Raiders in the morning dropped a number of explosive bombs in the lower reaches of the Thames. Pour children who had been left by ttheir mother in the basement of a house idemoiished in a daylight raid on London are believed to have been buried. •The mother escaped. She was forced jto run out for her shopping because of the length of the warning. A 12-year-old boy was released from wreckage in East London after being entombed for several hours. His mother was killed. “No large-scale enemy activity developed to-day, but during the morning and early afternoon,” states an Air Ministry and Ministry of Home Security communique, "a number of single enemy aircraft, flying in cloud, scattered numbers of bombs haphazardly, mainly over South-East England. Some fell in built-up areas, causing a certain number of casualties, including a few fatal injuries.” Two Enemy Bombers Down. It is announced that an enemy bomber was shot down into the sea off the east coast this morning by fighters. A second bomber was shot down by fighters early this afternoon. It is reported that one German raider which flew over the Thames Estuary went duck-shooting with little aucce*?. It dropped ten bombs, allon marshland, and the only casualty was one wild duck. As a result of the unusually early •'all-clear*’ signal after the night raid.*?, London was almost normal this morning. The newspapers and milk were delivered earlier, transport was prompter, and crowds of people went to work with less difficulty. Two heavy bombs were dropped in the central and north areas. Only one bomb was dropped in the south-east area. The latter demolished three houses, from which three bodies were recovered.