LIFE CHANGES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 217, 12 September 1940, Page 7

LIFE CHANGES.

LONDONERS IN RAIDS. Regulated By Time-Table Visitations. United Press Association.—Copyright. LONDON, Sept. 11. Londoners have taken the Luftwaffe's daily raids in their stride. In one week the entire life of the city has changed—regulated by the time-tabled visitations—and people have settled down to withstanding the greatest air siege in history. The first warning of the day can be expected at midday, when the Germans make a regular attempt to break through with a mass formation of bombers. Londoners shrug their shoulders and estimate that shelter-sitting will last half an hour or an hour. The next raid usually arrives at approximately 5 p.m. and lasts about the same period, while the German pilots endeavour to drop fire-starting bombs which will guide them in the night raids. Then, between S and 9 p.m., the nightly sessions begin. Everywhere in the vast, sprawling city, millions go to the shelters, prepared to remain until 6 a.m. Suburban residents have converted sheltere into bedrooms, and with their children and even their pets they bed down cheerfully for the night. Those lacking private shelters hurry to the public shelters, where they settle down in small, brave-hearted communities intimately drawn together by the overshadowing peril. Those living in hotels go to the basements and ground floors prepared for a fitful vigil. "Night life" has been abandoned temporarily. Theatres are closed, but the queues remain. Where once Londoners sat patiently waiting for a show to begin, amused by itinerant entertainers, they now wait as patiently for the shelters to open with the first.note of the sirens, since the wardens do not allow seats to be reserved. Working houre have been adjusted to suit the raids. The homeward trend begins two hours earlier, the staffs of shops and offices having been advised to set off about 4 p.m., before the first raid, so that they will be settled down in their homes by dusk. Queues for the trains and buees wait patiently, and more tolerantly than in peace time. In view of the temporary dislocation of travelling facilities, the public has been asked to avoid unnecessary travel. Many Londoners are having a cold midday meal instead of a hot one since the gas pressure in many restaurants has been reduced. Some of the water servicee have also been reduced. The Metropolitan Water Board has appealed for the use of less water for bathing and washing-up. As the raids continue night after night, it becomes clear that people who have been schooled to expect the toll of night bombing are philosophically resigned to get it over, as though it were a distasteful necessity in order to free Europe of the Nazi scourge. NEW ALARM SYSTEM. MR. CHURCHILL'S APPROVAL. (Reed. 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 11. Mr. Churchill applauded the new system, which factories, newspaper offices and other establishments are adopting, to prevent the disruption of work during air raids. Watchers are being posted on the roofs to warn when danger is imminent. Sirens will be regarded as an alert not an alarm signal. .' .