ENGLAND IN WARTIME
Trying Times, “But Wc Shall Stick It” BUSINESS MAN’S OUTLOOK Life in England under the constant threat from the air is described in a letter received 'by Mr. E. A. Hollins, manager for Boots, Ltd., in New Zealand, from Mr. H. Cook, an area director (territories have been merged in areas for war purposes), who has visited New Zealand. He writes:— “Iu spite of some intensive attention from the enemy over all the big cities, specially the biggest, in my area we have not had a window cracked—and no casualties. A number of our staff, however, have been rendered homeless, their houses going up while they were in shelters. One has died as lhe result of injuries from a bomb which came down in bis garden. As far as I know he is our only casualty, unless some have occurred in London in the last day or two. “We are getting quite hardened to sirens and the presence of tbe enemy iu the air. In 25 nights we have had onlv two free from the sirens, the warnings lasting for periods varying from two to seven hours. Sometimes wc have two or three periods of alarm in one night. We say 'B 1 Hitler. turn over and go to sleep again. . . . If I tell you of a few things I have been doing it will serve to give you a picture of our lives at home, and will convey to you that we are living normal lives, with only slight interference from the enemy. On Sunday we motored over to Derby, and from there went on to Dove Dale, having our meals al fresco. On Saturday we played bridge. The siren sounded in the middle of a rubber. M e completed tbe rubber, collected our winnings, and walked home. Ou Thursday we played golf in the afternoon. “The rationing scheme works like clockwork. There is no difficulty in procuring one’s share. No queues, and, of course panic buying is impossible. I do hope that you are getting the news of the marvellous defence of London. German planes are being brought down in hundreds before they reach the city. A few do get through, but having'regard to the size of the place and the population the damage and casualties are not heavy. I reckon if the Germans got through in big numbers for four days a week for a whole year, there would still be more than 6,000,000 people living there in comparative comfort and safety. “Wc all take off our hats to the Bomb Disposal Units, who deal with delayed action bombs. A typical case was' that of a bomb which fell near Perry Bar, and did not explode. The unit dug down 17 feet, removed lhe last few inches of soil with their hands, ami unscrewed the detonator, then removed it. It was estimated that it would have gone off in another 50 minutes. The removal of the bomb from St. Paul’s area you will have news of. That was an epic story, and the men who did it were just heroes. Unfortunately these men are not always so lucky.
“Autumn is now near and the nights are becoming chilly. All the harvest is gathered, and the general feeling is that we can face the winter with confidence. We realize that the future may be tough, and that we shall have to go through trying timAs, but we shall stick it. We all realize the possibility of sudden death from the air, but we also appreciate that we have chance of survival.”
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Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 42, 13 November 1940, Page 6
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596ENGLAND IN WARTIME Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 42, 13 November 1940, Page 6
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