WAR TIME IN ENGLAND

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 76, 22 December 1917, Page 3

WAR TIME IN ENGLAND

WHEN THE "ARCHIES" SPIT A NEW ZEALANDER'S IMPRESSIONS. "Wo out liero havo got slightly the wrong idea about tlio part tlio antiaircraft guns, play when repelling an onoiuy raid by aeroplanes," said Mr. Frank Meadowcroft, who has just returned from a trip to England. "AVlien I tell you that on four out of tlio five days I was in London tho city was raided by squadrons of aoroplanes, you will know that I bavo liacl a littlo experience. I, and I supposo many others, imagined that an antiaircraft gun fired at an enemy ncroplnno when it saw it. Nothing of tho sort —tho guns havo no object to firo at—they just fire into the air, hoping that somewhere up in the higher a_traosphore tho bursting shrapnel will find a billet in ono of the raiders, and being located all round London they make a barrage that is unsafo to pass. If ono does manago to get through, there aro the inner defences of London to bo reckoned with. But as for seeing any raiding at night that is out of the question—they aro too high up and fly too swiftly. With the 'Zepps,' which are large, and carry lights, tho caso is entiroly different. There tlioy have a. largo object that can bo spotted by tho searchlights and made a definite target of. In tho caso of tho aeroplane raids I saw, or rather heard, there was a harvest moon which nullified any attempt. at spotting by tho searchlights; whilst when thoy camo in tho day time they fly too high abovo tho pall of smoko and clouds that hang over London to be seen. . . . You can't even see the shrapnel shells bursting. You hear the rocket-like swish of tiio shell as it ascends, and hear the bang.of the explosion, but I Was never able to actually see ono burst, though I tried hard from a sheltered spot. What goes up must eome down, and tho tons of metal that is fired at a blank target in tho air must descend somewhere, and do an immense amount, of damage. Not that tho bombs do not do a great deal of damage. They do.. In Southampton Row, the Duko of Bedford Hotel was terribly knocked about by a bomb that landed in the gutter outside. It smashed in every door and window sash in the front of tho building and had it not been that tho building was a stout stono structure it would havo boon wrecked. As it was it had bite knocked off of it all over the front, and every window for 250 yards along tlio Row was shattered. Tho only peoplo that' woro killed were thoso who camo out of tlio hotel and walked on to tho road trying to see tho 'planes." "One night I was visiting the New Zealand Soldiers' Hostel in Russell Square when the raiders came. When the guns started I waiited to go, btit they persuaded me to stay, and all hands went down below aud told stories till the raid, was over. Since the 'planes began to come the people are taking shelter more readily than they used to do in the days of the 'Zopp.' As soon as warnings were given that there was to bo a raid, hundreds of thousands of people from tho tenement houses and East side sought sanctiiary in the railway tubes. At the first intimation you would see the people running . along with littlo camp-stools, and perhaps a bit to eat, prepared to stand anything for the guaranteed security of the tube. As those tubes were from 50 to 60 feet below the surface, the air became vitiated, and ono could sample all the perfumes of Arahy and a'few others whilst dodging death from the skies. _ i "The law against showing any lights at night is very strict. Every city or town, in England is absolutely in darkness every night. The occupant of wiy room emitting a single ray-of light, such as-might como from a broken slat in a Venetian blind, is lialilo to bo fined anything from £5 to £10. Even light blinds or curtains are barred— they must be thick in texture and dark in colour. No church is allowed to show a light in front, and the lights inside, though the windows aro curtained, aro shaded like thoso of a billiardtable, and the under parts of the bulbs are 'blued' in order to subdue the glare. The result of this Stygian darkness was that the streets were quite unsafe for women and often dangerous for men, and no decent woman went out at night unless it was absolutely necessary unless sho was escorted or took a taxi."