AIR LULL ENDED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23851, 30 December 1940, Page 7

AIR LULL ENDED

MORE NIGHT ATTACKS

HEAVY LONDON RAID WIDE AIiEA AFFECTED By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright (Received December 2ft, 0.80 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 20 The main air raid on England last night was made against a town in the south-west of England. The attack lasted for over an hour and was a fairly sharp one, but fires were soon put under control, while the damage was slight and very few casualties were caused. The air-raid sirens sounded in London soon after dark on Friday night after a lapse of 89 hours 18 minutes, the longest spell the capital has had since the concentrated air attacks began. A continuous stream of raiders was reported to be passing over the south-east coast. The all clear was sounded in about four hours after the worst raid the capital has had since December 8. Scores of high explosive bombs and hundreds of incendiary bombs were scattered over a wide area, with all the features of the worst raids. People Trapped in Shelter In spite of the bursting bombs and the heavy barrage Londoners carried on as usual. Buses and trains ran without interruption and the main thoroughfares were never completely deserted. A number of persons were trapped in the underground shelter of a large block of London workers' flats last evening. Kiev en were rescued after two hours. A middle-aged invalid woman is believed still to be under tons of debris. Her husband was killed and her daughter has been sent to hospital. Most of those rescued were injured. A woman in an adjoining shelter said: "We could hear screams for help, but although only a single wall divided us, we were powerless. Some of the men tried to hack a way. They were using picks when air-raid precaution workers advised them to cease because of the danger of a collapse of both shelters. We were unable to leave our shelter until the debris was dug from the entrance." Church Gutted A London parish church, according to press reports, was gutted as a result of being hit by a number of incendiary bombs, says a British official wireless message. In an adjacent thoroughfare a heavy bomb destroyed an hotel and a number of houses near by were wrecked. A few bombs were also dropped in East Anglia and south-east England and at one point on the south coast. A number of people were killed and others injured. There were several fires, but all were quickly and effectively dealt with. Day Raid on Southampton Southampton was visited by German bombers on Saturday, according to a communique, which states: "There was very little enemy air activity over Britain to-day, but bombs were dropped by enemy aircraft over Southampton this afternoon, causing little damage and few casualties." • It is officially stated that an enemy aircraft dropped bombs on Friday morning on a town in the south-east of England, causing some damage and a few minor casualties. The Air .Ministry news service describes how a running fight just above the sea on Friday between a Blenheim bomber of the Coastal Command and two Messerschmitt 109's ended with one of the German aircraft banking into the sea off the French coast and breaking up and the other, severely damaged, making for home. CIVIC FUNERAL 72 MANCHESTER VICTIMS (Received December 29, 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 28 Manchester accorded a civic funeral to the "2 victims of the recent air raid. The Bishop of Manchester, I)r. G. Warman, and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford, Dr. H. V. Marshall, conducted the services. The coffins were draped .with Union Jacks. Buglers sounded the "Last Post." LONG RANGE GUNS CHANNEL COAST SHELLED (Received December 28, 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 27 German long-range guns shelled the Channel coast across the fog-blanketed straits for two and a-halt hours in the darkness this morning. They began at 4.;>,() a.m. with a salvo of three shells, which crashed into the Dover area, and continued at regular intervals. No damage and no casualties resulted. USE BY GERMANS BRITISH SUBMARINE BREMEN RADIO CLAIM (Received December 20, 7.40 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 28 The Bremen radio says the British submarine Seal, which was damaged off Sweden several months ago, was captured by the Germans and has been recornniissioned tor the German Navy. The Seal was announced by the Admiralty last May to be missing and presumed lost. A large vessel of lo'-'O tons surface displacement, she was equipped for mine-laying, and was completed as recently as .January ; 1039.

NOT CHRISTIAN WAR GERMAN REPLY TO POPE LONDON, Doc. 27 In Berlin, the official comment on the Pope's broadcast was: "It was made principally from the Christian standpoint. This is not a Christian war. hut a political war." BELGIAN PRINCESS MEMBER OF FASCIST PARTY LONDON, Dec. 27 The Bremen radio stated that the Crown Princess Marie Jose, sister of King Leopold of the Belgians, has become officially Fascist. She received a Party book at a ceremony at Naples.