HOW IT FEELS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24433, 19 October 1940, Page 10

HOW IT FEELS

LONDON IN BLACK-OUT THUNDEROUS CRASHES PEOPLE SUPERBLY CALM Hitler, in his bestial air attacks, has taken hundreds of innocent lives, and turned some of London’s landmarks — famous all over the world —wholly or partly to ruins. Yet words cannot adequately express the fortitude with which’the people of London and other British cities are standing up to their ordeal (cabled a London representative of the Sydney Sun) At times all hell seems suddenly to break loose. The explosion of great bombs and the crash of the barrages shake the sturdiest buildings to their foundations, and the concussion can be felt in the deepest shelters. Through all this terrible pounding the people remain superbly calm. It would be foolish to say that nobody was nervous. None of us pretends that the bombing is at times anything but terrifying; but, so far as one can judge at the moment, from _ personal experience and from conversions with others who have had their “ dcse ” (which means almost everyone), there is no panic. An American’s Tribute

An American journalist is pretty close to the mark when he writes: “ One simply cannot praise the average man too highly. From history and the environment of these past 1000 years he has inherited a quality of courage which is a true inspiration." Immured behind black-out curtains, one can feel and hear the raids. Thunderous crashes break in on the general confusion of sound, and one’s ears are strained to catch the cautionary warning howl of the next bomb. Sometimes there is a single impact that makes the air quiver, and sometimes there are three or four within a second or two as the assassin somewhere “up there” in the murky night twiddles his' bomb selector-gear and presses the release button. Thudding Motors Overhead

There is a constant accompaniment from the thudding motors, sometimes dying away into the distance, but soon back overhead as another long raid drags on and the Londoners under it await the dawn. Transport difficulties and the unwillingness of people to risk being forced to stay awav from home all night have abruptly changed the social life which was being re-established in London after its dislocation early in the war. Few stir from their homes if they can avoid it. but some plan outings to places where the shelters are comfoitable. Five plays came off in the West End on Saturday after playing to meagre houses during raids.