SPLENDID COURAGE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 248, 17 September 1940, Page 7

SPLENDID COURAGE

SAVING OF ST. PAUL’S

WIDESPREAD BELIEF

(United Press Association —Copyright.)

(British Official Wireless.) (Rec. 10 a.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 16. The magnificent courage of the few men who safely removed the high-explosive bomb which had menaced St. Paul’s Cathedral since last Wednesday is warmly praised on all sides.

There is a worldwide relief that Wren’s magnificent masterpiece escaped undamaged. In approving of the Indian Congress resolution expressing admirat.on for the bravery and endurance of the' British people, Mr Gandhi said: “Any damage to . St. Paul’s would be as keenly felt by me as would be damage to the .Hindu holy city of Benares.’ With pictures and prose -the newspapers applaud the courage of the “suicide squads” who, under the more prosaic- title of bomb disposal squads of the Royal Engineers, have dealt effectively with many delayed-action bombs. . , The bomb removed from the Dean s Yard, close to the west end of St. Paul’s Cathedral (as reported yesterday) was one of the largest dropped in London. The official account of its removal by a squad under Lieutenant R. Davies is among the most remarkable stories of the Battle for London. The Ministry of Home Security states: “Only the courage and tenacity of Lieutenant Davies and his men prevented St. Paul’s from being levelled to the ground.” Special prayers of thanks for the safety of the fabric were said in St. Paul’s to-day. when the first luncheon service since the removal of the unexploded bomb was held. The officiating canon gave thanks for the courage, skill, and devotion to duty of the men who disposed of the bomb. It is now learned that during last week’s air raids on London a bomb hit the Tate Gallery, famous for its collection of modern British paintings and sculpture, and for the special galleries containing works by Turner and Sargent, also modern foreign artists.