HUMAN INCIDENTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21818, 22 November 1940, Page 8

HUMAN INCIDENTS

LONDON AIR RAIDS (From Our Own Correspondent) LONDON, September 21. The Queen ordered 60 suites of furniture to be sent from Windsor Castle to the East End this week. The furniture will be given to families bombed out of their homes. Some of the pieces are 100 years old and bear Queen Victoria’s monogram. Many carpets, rugs, beds, mattresses and cots are included. Three girls and two boys, waiting to be sent to Canada, were in a shelter when a direct hit destroyed their home. Next morning the children were taken straight to a port, given new clothes, and are now on their way to Canada three weeks ahead of schedule. Nine days after being bombed, Mr S. C. Champion returned to the debris of his North-West London home and wriggled through the remains to try to get a few personal belongings. He heard a faint whine, and found his dog Jerry trapped, but still alive. Jerry is now recovering. Firemen digging in a wrecked London house heard a cry, “Get off my blue-pencil foot.” They redoubled their efforts and rescued—a parrot. Mrs Davis, of North London, has paid a man 10/- a year for 40 years to climb her pear tree and gather the juicy fruit. This year an anti-aircraft gun 30, yards from the tree, has saved her the 10/-. Mrs Davis spread thick sacking on the ground, and the vibration from the gun did the rest. A supper-time explosion at a North London factory sent everyone scurrying to shelter. Later they found that the explosion was caused by a tin of beans which burst while being heated for one man’s supper. Only two beans were saved. An elderly man, rescued after seven hours, was asked if he wanted anything. "Yes, a cup of tea, please, and—and can I have an extra bit of sugar?” In a Midlands town a woman of 79. Miss Savage, was rescued from under her staircase. "Thank you,” she said to the men. “Would you like a cup of coffee if the gas stove is still there?”