HIT AND RUN RAID

Southland Times, Issue 24765, 9 June 1942, Page 5

HIT AND RUN RAID

SYDNEY SHELLED LITTLE DAMAGE, ONE CASUALTY (Rec. 10 p.m.) SYDNEY, June 8. A hit-and-run nuisance raid was made by Japanese submarines on Sydney and Newcastle early this morning. The shelling was light and without effect. The Sydney Sun says the damage done was less than that caused by a heavy storm and the effect on morale was nil. Naval craft are hunting for the submarines. In Sydney the bombardment began at 12.5 a.m. The alarms were sounded shortly before 12.30 and the all clear at 1.11. Six shells were fired into three suburbs. There was slight damage. In Newcastle the shelling began about 1.30 a.m. and lasted about 15 minutes. Shells exploded, but did no damage. Thousands of people in Sydney’s harbour suburbs were wakened from their sleep by the scream of shells and the boom of coastal defence guns. It has been estimated that more than a dozen enemy shells were fired but most of them fell harmlessly into the harbour. Onlookers said that the firing appeared to come from about two miles off the coast where gun flashes could be seen. The special Australian correspondent of the New Zealand Press Association says that Sydney’s coastal defences went into action with artillery, and heavy machine-guns when the first of the shells from the submarines screamed over the suburbs. Gun crews rushed to action stations wearing pyjamas and greatcoats. Coast defence guns did not cease firing until 2.45 a.m. The sole casualty in Sydney was a man who was injured when a shell passed through the wall of his flat. His leg was broken by falling bricks. The man, who is an electrical engineer, is a refugee, who came five years ago from Germany. The shelling of both Sydney and Newcastle is believed to have been by guns of light calibre. Several flare shells were fired in Newcastle, lighting up the sky. The damage was light. Blasts from shells shattered the windows of nearby houses. One of the shells, which landed on a roadway, made a small crater three feet in diameter and a foot deep. WARDENS IN ACTION National Emergency Service wardens, who were quickly at their posts both in Sydney and Newcastle, made the rounds of their districts and ordered people to put out all lights. People in night attire went to shelters, taking with them warm coverings and food. Alert sirens sounded in all Sydney suburbs and the belief that an air raid was imminent prevailed. The main task of the wardens was to move from the streets people who were anxious to have a grandstand view of the excitement. There was no panic anywhere, but people were generally curious. No planes were reported near Sydney, and it has been officially stated that the alert alarm was sounded merely as a precaution. SALUTARY LESSON Australia has again received a salutary lesson—the need for ceaseless vigilance—and the lesson has been learned at gratifying small cost. A repetition of the raids is regarded as possible. Two submarines are reported to have been seen off the coast by some watchers during Monday night’s attack. The damage, estimated at some hundreds of pounds, was restricted to private dwellings. Newcastle had a prior warning that an attack was likely. An alert was sounded under orders from Sydney and emergency service wardens were at their posts when the first shots were fired.

SIX MILES OFF The submarine or submarines which attacked Sydney did the shelling from six miles out at sea, it has been estimated. The coastal defence guns played an important part in making the raid a brief affair. They fired at the gun flashes of the submarine. No hits are claimed, but the gunners believe they made the area unhealthy and forced the raider to dive. Some military commentators estimate that Japan sent a force of fully 20 submarines, including midgets, to co-oper-ate off the south-eastern coast of Australia. Seven, possibly eight, have been destroyed, including four midgets. Most observers do not believe the submarine raids were a diversionary move designed to draw off forces from the great naval battle in Midway Island area. The raids are regarded as a calculated blow at Australian shipping. “The submarine attacks on our coasts are part of the pattern of Japanese strategy in the Pacific,” says The Sun editorially. “It is an attempt to cut our sea communications with our Ally, America.” The official characterization of the latest attacks as nuisance raids lends force to the theory that the shellings might have been a farewell gesture before the submarines, running short of fuel and supplies, were compelled to return to their base. Supporters of this belief point to the recent raid on the Californian coast, when a submarine, having shelled shore objectives, disappeared and was not heard of again. SUBMARINE SURPRISED The third submarine, destroyed off the east coast and mentioned in yesterday’s communique was surprised on the surface and received a direct hit from a bomb dropped at 600 feet. Flight Lieutenant V. M. Morgan, aged 24, the pilot of the RA..A.F. plane which sank the submarine, in revealing this, added, “Nobody but the fish will know definitely what happened to the submarine,

but I am certain it has finished its career for good.” With the addition of another name to the list of missing believed killed the total casualties in the ferry boat used as a naval depot ship, which was sunk by a Japanese submarine in Sydney harbour on May 31 are now 31. The list now shows 13 killed, eight missing believed killed, and 10 injured.