DAMAGE TO NOTED BUILDINGS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 111, 14 May 1941, Page 5

DAMAGE TO NOTED BUILDINGS

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS WESTMINSTER ABBEY IS STRUCTURALLY INTACT (Recd. 6.45 p.m.) London, May 13. Apart from the graceful outlines of the doorways and windows, the House of Commons might be the ruins of a factory, so complete has been the destruction of woodwork and fabrics. Practically all the windows of the Lords’ Chamber have been blown out.

It is revealed that Captain Elliott was killed when a 1001 b. explosive penetrated the custodians’ quarters in the Lords. It did not explode, but hit Captain Elliott like a monstrous bullet. Another hundredpounder penetrated the roof of the Lords’ Chamber and went through the floor to the basement. An explosive hit the clock tower just above the clock but, contrary to previous reports, did not interrupt the working of the clock, nor the tolling of “Big Ben.”

The biggest bomb hit the Law Lords’ corridor, damaging the Law Lords’ private rooms, rendering subsequent fire-fighting difficult. The High Altar in Westminster Abbey is intact. The fittings are Undisturbed. A temporary roof is immediately being constructed for the Lantern Tower to prevent damage by the weather.—U.P.A. London, May 12. Westminster Abbey, though gravely damaged, is structurally intact except for part of the vicinity of the lantern tower. An incendiary which damaged the lantern tower did not damage the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. A good deal of surface damage was done in the Henry VII. chapel. A library of 1000 books, valuable manuscripts and important documents, were destroyed in the deanery. Most of the private rooms of Ministers, including Mr. Churchill’s, in the House of Commons, were not damaged, and the House of Commons and House of Lords’ libraries were damaged.

“The German attack on the Houses of Parliament was obviously deliberate,” said Mr. Victor Goodman, head of the Houses of Parliament A.R.P. unit.

“They hit us with seven high explosives, in addition to a large number of incendiaries, all of which were aimed at the target.” Spotters dealt with all incendiaries, except some which were most difficult to reach. A gable at Westminster Hall caught fire and subsequently burned through near the apex, but firemen were so prompt that the damage was confined to a strip of the apex of the roof. Thus the most ancient part of the Houses of Parliament remains virtually intact and can be repaired. The fire which destroyed the House of Commons debating chamber resulted from an oil bomb hitting the top of the west side. The fire burned for some hours, bringing down the steel-girdered roof, which caused the floor to collapse. An explosive bomb demolished a 20ft. turret on the top of a wall at Royal Court, killing two war reserve policemen who were spotting from there. Rescue parties are still working on an hotel hit by an explosive bomb on May 10. Several bodies already have been recovered, but two women and a man are still missing. The explosion wrecked many rooms, burying guests under heaps of masonry.— U.P.A. DESTROYED AND DAMAGED LONDON CHURCHES (Recd. 7.50 p.m.) London, May 13. Mr. Sidney Berry, secretary to the Congregational Union, revealed that 63 London churches were slightly damaged by bombing, 50 badly. Twenty-eight were completely destroyed. Seventy-seven churches elsewhere in Britain were slightly damaged, and 50 badly. Thirty-three were completely destroyed.—U.P.A.