RAIDS ON LONDON

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21218, 14 September 1940, Page 8

RAIDS ON LONDON

OVER WIDE AREA CHURCHES DAMAGED SUBURBS BOMBED (United Press Asn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received Sept. 14, 3.15 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 13 Anti-aircraft guns and British fighters went into action against early morning raiders over London. Apparently dismayed by London’s shitting fence of exploding steel, which early in the night shook the capital like an earthquake, the Germans .turned violent attention to the provinces, several areas having very long raids. A north-east town endured the first serious attack. Two screaming bombs fell in a working-class district, damaging houses and causing casualties. Incendiary bombs showered down at various places as waves of raiders flew over and received a forceful welcome from the anti-aircraft guns. Plane Down In Street A high-explosive bomb damaged the casualty ward at a public assistance institution in a north-east coast town. An enemy plane was brought down in the street of a Welsh coastal town. Several bombers attacked a convoy off the east coast of Scotland. Members of the convoy were not damaged. A few people were fatally injured when a bomb fell in a northern. London district. Several shops were demolished and others seriously damaged. In another area bombs damaged several houses and a garage. A few people sheltering there were killed. From midnight to noon London was in a state of alarm for nine hours. Deafening Gunfire Barrage The “All Clear” for the third alarm was sounded at 4.15 p.m. A solitary plane, diving from the clouds, was responsible for the third warning. Pedestrians threw themselves full length on the roadways and pavements. The plane dropped bombs, setting fire to a building. A raider dropped several incendiary bombs over the London district during the second warning, but the fires were promptly extinguished. Heavy explosions were heard in central London, then a deafening gunfire barrage broke out. The streets were quickly deserted as shrapnel pattered the roadways and rooftops. Several places affected in the past few days’ raids are now disclosable. Several Churches Damaged The buildings damaged include Somerset House, the Churches of Our Lady of Victories at Kensington, St. Magnus the Martyr, St. Swithin’s in Cannon Street, St. Mary at Hill, St. Dunstans in the East, St. Mary at Woolnoth, St. Clements in East Cheapside, St. Augustine’s in Watling Street, and St. Giles at Cripplegate. Rotten Row and Barclay Square were also affected. About five bombs were dropped in the vicinity of St. Paul’s on September 12. One is believed to have been a 500-pounder. The south-west suburb is beginning to resemble the East End. Hardly a street is without a crater or craters. Windows are rare for a considerable length along the district’s main road. However, apart from a number of deaths when a shelter was hit directly, the casualties are mostly confined to injuries sustained by people being hurled to the ground with or without the assistance of a bomb blast. A fourteen-year-old girl, Mildred Castillo, was rescued alive this afternoon from the ruins of a demolished house in a south-west suburb, in which she was buried on September 9. She was believed to be dead, but a passer-by heard, her cries. No Extensive Damage A survey of the raids on Britain last night and today is contained in an Air Ministry communique issued at 9 p.m., which states: — Further details of the enemy’s attack on Britain last night confirm that no extensive damage was done, though bombs were dropped in many parts of the country, in two towns in the Midlands and one town on the South Coast. Houses were damaged in one Midland town and a few casualties were caused. In the London area a number of persons were killed or injured. Last night’s attack was not heavy. Fuller reports of the previous night’s casualties show that 110 persons were killed and 260 injured in the London area. At mid-day today, in addition to the attacks on London, enemy aircraft in small numbers dropped bombs on several districts in southeast England. In a town in Essex considerable damage was done, but no casualties are reported. In several other places houses and cottages were hit, but the general damage and casualties reported were slight. Later enemy aircraft, continuing the method of sudden attack and retreat which characterised their activities throughout the day, dropped bombs in one district in Central London, in Eastbourne and some places in Kent, and in one town in Surrey. Some casualties resulted in London. In Eastborune there were also some casualties, most of them slight. An enemy bomber was shot down by our fighters this morning. Fouled Balloon Cable The Air Ministry announced this evening that in the course of the last enemy raids on Britain an enemy bomber fouled a balloon barrage cable and was destroyed. House of Lords Damaged Among the notable buildings damaged by Nazi bombs in recent raids is the House of Lords. An incendiary bomb struck the House, but the damage was slight and the resultant lire

was quickly extinguished. Wounded German pilots in a hospital in a south-east town were among many to have a fortunate escape when the hospital was bombed from about 5000 feet by a single raider on Thursday afternoon. Twenty-three other people in the rest of the town were less fortunate, five being killed and eighteen injured.