AIR RAIDS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20107, 29 November 1939, Page 12

AIR RAIDS

HOW LONDON GUARDS BALLOONS & BLACKOUTS STEEL HELMETS USED What air raid precautions mean in London is explained by Dr. J. V. Cable, of the medical staff of Redhill Hospital, Edgeware, London, in a letter to his father, Mr. M. Cable, Wellington. “This country was thoroughly prepared this time,’’ he writes. “Many days before the outbreak of war we were quite ready at the hospital. Important buildings, such as operating theatres and sub-stations, were Sandbagged, windows were painted black, blue lights were installed in the hospital, notices were put up directing emergency patients to appropriate clinics. The roof of the casualty buildings had a foot of sand on them as a measure of protection against the effects of bomb splinters and incendiary bombs This was not just a local effort; similar work was going on all over the country. Searchlights were in position, and the anti-aircraft 'guns manned. On Sunday night I counted 34 beams up at once from my own room. We had evacuated all our ordinary patients on Friday and the wards were ready for a large, number of casualty cases.

“Like Shoals of Silver Fish” “The balloon barrage was up on Saturday, and 'has been, strengthened since,” continues Dr. Cable "The sky from here seems to be filled with them —it looks like an aquarium with shoals of silver fish everywhere. The evacuation of women and children had started on Friday, and by Sunday night 1,500,000 had been sent to the country. All hospitals are now under the charge of the Ministry of Health. I was up in town yesterday, and the change was striking. All policemen wore steel helmets, and half of the other people in the streets had them, as most of them were acting in some official capacity—A.R.P. wardens, girl drivers of the auxiliary fire service, special constables, doctors for first aid posts. Half London is extensively sandbagged, and plastered with notices showing where the nearest air raid shelter is, or where the nearest auxiliary fire station lies. “Most of the shop windows in Regent street were empty, and the glass fronts were criss-crossed with strips of brown paper to stop the panes from splintering.

“Black as the Fit” “I have just been across to the office and can testify to the astonishing efficiency of the black-out. London is as black as a pit. Not a light anywhere; not a window glimmering round the curtains, not a street light, not a car headlight—only ’blackness and the stars. If a light shines anywhere the A.R.P. wardens, prowling about, are around at once, and overhead aeroplane patrols look for ground lights, Yesterday someone was burning rubbish irfthe hospital grounds, and after dark a few glowing embers remained. An observation plane overhead spotted this, wirelessed Hendon three miles away, with the result that the police were around at once.

“To see the roads at night is something wonderful. You know the tremendous road traffic here, and you can imagine an unceasing How of cars and lorries passing in the darkness. It would be suicide, of course, to walk on the roads. The kerbs are painted I white, as are also .the bottoms of the lamp-posts, and the mudguards and running-boards of the motor-cars-Headlights are blacked right out, save a tiny spot in the centre, and even that light is covered by a shield so that it cannot be seen from above or from any distance. “No Germans Yet” “We have had several air raid warnings, but so far no German planes have been overhead,” says the letter. "I doubt if they will try ,to get through the balloon barrage, but we are outside it. We were awakened at about 3 a.m. on Monday by the wailing of the sirens and hooters announcing a raid. I remember waking up and thinking what a noisy hole it was before it dawned upon we what the noise meant. We trooped downstairs and filed out into the lawn, hoping to see a ‘dog fight,’ but were disappointed. It takes a lot to upset ,the Anglo-Saxons. Most of us' did not bother to get out of bed for yesterday’s raid. However, perhaps we will be a little more careful after we have had a few casualties.

Wonderful Spirt of People “It is obvious that the Germans are i not bothering about us at present but are using all their punch in Poland. It is all very sad really when one recalls some of the fine people we met in Germany, so like ourselves. They lost 2,000,000 last time,, and if ever there was a piece of folly it is this war. They will thrash Poland, of course, but they still have England to reckon with, and the people of this country are seen at their best at a time like this. Their spirit is wonderful.”