THE LONDON RAID

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17091, 24 August 1917, Page 2

THE LONDON RAID

FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTYSEVEN VICTIMS. FIFTEEN GERMAN AEROPLANES OVER THE CITY. SCHOOL AND TRAIN HIT. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, Juno 15. Two days ago London had tlie nearest vision of modern warfare that it has yet known. The Zeppelin raids came in the darkness and mystery of night. This time it was different. In tho loveliness of a perfect summer's day, enemy aeroplanes journeyed through the sky and passed over London. There suddenly came in swift succession several tremendous crashes, and later it was learned that 104- persons had been killed and 423 injured. The figures are: Men—s9 and 219: women—l 9 and 110; children—27 and 93.

It was between 11.30 and 11.45 a.m. that the enemy raiders were detected by the defences. In a 'cloudless sky, and beneath a blazing sun, they were flying at an altitude of 18,000 feet, and they looked mere specks of flashing silver. Our guns, both of heavy and light calibre, opened fire. But, undisturbed, the raiders, keeping together, 'pursued a direct course towards East London. Apparently they keu. together while on the south side of the river, but parted company as soon as they crossed the Thames, each visiting a particular district. One took a sweep westwards without dropping bombs; another hovered over the centre of the city, and a third devoted its "friglitfulness" to the eastern boundary of the city, and a fourth swept into the heart of the East End—all dealing death and destruction.

It was about 11.35 that. Fleet street ■was awakened out of its ordinary busy life by several loud explosions. People on the 'buses stood up at the unexpected alarm, and searched the skies. "Our guns at it again," someone remarked. But the general demeanour of the crowds suggested something else,_ and very soon it was ovir dent that a raid was in progress. For all that, the life of the city went, on as usual, and generally speaking, there was an absence of panic. At .certain points, thick' towers of smoke rose up, and very soon fire engines and ambulance ears were darting about. . MURDER IN A SCHOOL. Terrible scenes were witnessed at a large Council School, where 10 children were killed and SO injured. This occurred just before noon, when the teachers were about to dismiss the children for' dinner. The bomb fell squarely on the roof and exploded inside the building. Children screamed and fainted, and the teachers struggled bravely to pacify the terrified little ones. One teacher was wounded, but the. rest of the staff stuck 'to their duties, some rendering first aid and others taking ■ the uninjured children to a place of safety. The police and the ambulances were quickly on the scene. The , school is situated in a poor quarter, and soon the place- was besieged by anxious .mothers. Distressing scenes followed, for some of the mothers when they heard the news became hysterical with grief and others hysterical with-joy. Apart from the small hole in the roof, the fabric is absolutely undamaged.

Mr Will Crooks, the Poplar M.P., was within 100 yards of the plaoo at the time. He threw himself immediately on the ground, and then, ascertaining that his wife was safe, he did all he could to comfort tlie_ hundreds of mothers who flocked to tho vicinity of the disaster. Only one bomb actually struck the school, but two others fell within a'; few hundred yards of the building, the iconcussion of their explosion adding greatly to the damage. The caretaker, who is still suffering from shock, said that the first victim was his own little 6on, whose body was mutilated almost beyond recognition. His wife was prostrated with grief, but the caretaker was bravely " carrying on." TRAIN WRECKED. One bomb fell on a railway station and hit an incoming train. Seven persons were killed and 17 injured here. Almost immediately the wrecked carriages caught fire, and passengers, wreckage, and flames mingled together in an appalling manner. Men were screaming and women were shrieking for help. Jn several cases they succeeded in extricating themselves from tho burning carriages and ran down the platform with their clothes ablaze. Some soldiers on the platform showed the utmost coolness, and did their best in the work of rescue. All- through the afternoon the work of clearing away tho debris of tho wrecked carriages was continued. Men were engaged on the glass roof of the station knocking out broken glass, which constantly fell crashing on the rails below. A porter who was taking some luggage down the platform when the bombs fell, declared that the horror of the sight of the train "toppling over" made him shake from head to foot. '' I dropped the bag I was carrying," he added, "and I must have jumped many feet in the air." A CENTRE OF DESTRUCTION. One of the biggest oentres of destruction was a block of flats five storeys high, at the corner of a main thoroughfare. The lower part of the buildings is occupied as shops. The upper part was completely demolished. Tho remains of a staircase were hanging amid the wreckage, most of the walls we're blown out, and tho building looked nothing but a confusion of lath and plaster. On one wall, which remained intact, however, the pictures were hanging, as' if nothinsr had happened. The loss of life at this spot is believe.! to havo been considerable. One man vouohod for tho .statement tbnt at least six dead bodies had been recovered, and the search was still proceeding at night, conducted by tho police and Red Cross workers. Many more must havo been injured. On the opposite side of the street another bomb fell thrdugh the roof of another block of floors. The raid can be timed from the fact that a clock on a churc-h was stopped by the concussion at 11.40 a.m. \ v

OTHER INCIDENTS.

Three bombs were dropped within 100 yards in a crowded industrial district in the city. Two wore apparently incendiary, and tba other was of tho ordinary explosive kind. Tho first fell on a five-storeyed building. Considerable damage was caused by fcho explosion to tho two upper storeys, and the windows in the neighbourhood were completely wrecked. A honso was killed and its van overturned. Another' bomb dropped on a four-etoryed warehouse, and iu a few seconds the top floor was iblazing. The third played havoc with soma tiles on some small houses, but it did not set them on fire. In a narrow street occupied by warehouses, adjorung one ot the most frequented thoroughfares in the city, a high building, in which a firm of printers was situated, was struck. Bombs fell through tho roof, and the upper storey 9 were immediately in flames. Fortunately, there was no loss of life, as tho employees, alarmed by tho first repcrts, betook themselves to places of safety. Next to the building is a Roman Catholic school, in which the children at the time of the raid were at their lessons. Although the schoolroom is in the closest contiguity to tho printing house, it remained untouched. At the first sign of danger, all the children within a fow seconds had been marched to tho basement.

In tho East End four bombs fell within an area of 300 yards. The first failed to explode, and the second fell just off the roadway outside a lire station, shattering windows in every direction. The plateglass windows of a bank wero wrecked, and the walls were pock-marked. Outside these promises a dray was destroyed as it stood, the horse being killed and the driver seriously injured. The third bomb set alight a warehouse in a well-known thoroughfare, and a large detachment of the London Firo Brigade, with escapes, was engaged in subduing an obstinate outbreak of fire. This road hardly possesses a vholo window, and tho upheaval of tho roadway consequent on the explosion caused tho traffic to be held up and diverted. The fourth bomb fell on some model dwellings, but a small fire which 'broke out was soon quelled. JUDICIAL CALM. Both the King and Queen visited the East End immediately they heard of the outrage, and called at the London and St. Bartholomew's Hospitals. At the Law Courts Mr Justice Darling continued sitting, remarking that they were all as safe there as anywhere else. At one London County Court the judgo was giving a decision when the first sounds wero heard. Tho booming grew in intensity, until eventually it sounded as if one must have dropped in the precincts of tho court. The judge never hesitated, and in a and dear voice went on: "In this contract plaintiffs have undertaken certain obligations—(Boom)'—which they contend have been oaaried out.—(Boom.) Defendants have set up what I think is a • bone fido defence."—(Boom.) The explosions were too much for several women, who screamed in court. The judge remained quite calm, and remarked: "I hope people will bo quiet. If they cannot, they hacl better leave tho' court." Another boom, louder than ever, followed, and the women shrieked again, but tho judge went on and finished his judgment.