AIR RAID ALARMS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21242, 12 October 1940, Page 9

AIR RAID ALARMS

LONDON CARRIES ON HAMILTONIAN’S EXPERIENCES Interesting experiences during an

Interesting experiences during an air raid over London are described in a letter from Miss Beatrice Fisher, who is attached to the Air Ministry in London, to her parents, Mr and Mrs R. Fisher, of Hamilton. “I am writing this during an air raid on a Sunday evening,” says Miss Fisher. “It is the second we have had today. The first was at 1.15 p.m. as dinner was being served, and it lasted just under an hour. Tonight we have heard several of our planes going over in the direction of London, but visibilitiy is very poor and we couldn’t see them,” “People go down into their shelters as soon as the warning sounds, but as we haven’t got one we take cover by the stairs if the raiders come overhead. This makes five warnings we have had in the London area this week. No Sign of Nervousness “Qn Friday, while I was shopping at ‘Liberty’s,’ a large store in Regent Street, the sirens sounded and all the shoppers were taken down to the basement. There was a large crowd and not enough seats for all. Everyone seemed to be talking at once, but there was not a sign of nervousness or panic. “After half-an-hour some of us got tired of waiting, so we left. The buses were still running and there were some people about. By the time I had walked round into Oxford Street the ‘All Clear’ sounded and people began to appear as though from nowhere. All the shops had shut and now they were hurriedly opening. “In no time there were crowds in the streets as usual and long queues waiting outside the restaurants for them to open. The raid had lasted an hour and had been at Croydon. “None of the raiders got back —we brought them all down.”