ATTACK SMASHED

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 252, 21 September 1940, Page 7

ATTACK SMASHED

RAID BY LUFTWAFFE

LATEST BOMB DAMAGE,

(Rec. 10.25 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 20. Two hundred German planes were chased back across the Channel today and 12 are reported to liavo been shot down. Strong forces of German bombers and fighters crossed the Kent coast, heading for London. A few reached the capital, but the attack was broken within an hour.:

A rainstorm broke over the Straits of Dover at sunset, when a strong south-westerly gale was lashing the cliffs. Fairly heavy seas are’ running and the visibility is limited. Later the gale dropped, the sea became calmer and France was easily visible.

Two hundred incendiary bombs fell in Essex villages. Among unexploded bombs unearthed was one 25 years old.’Workmen installing an A.R.P. shelter located a bomb and hurriedly summoned a disposal unit, which was amazed to discover that it was dropped in the last war. A raider cruising over a south-east coastal town bombed a working-class district. A public bouse sustained a direct hit and the landlord, his wife, the staff, and customers were trapped. A second bomb wrecked three houses, killing three.

DWELLINGS RUINED

A big bomb dropped on the outskirts of London last night and completely wrecked two houses, rendered a dozen others uninhabitable, and damaged scores of others.

A formation of escorted German bombers was intercepted at a great height near a south-east town this morning. British fighters attacked from above, and the Germans scurried off towards tho coast, one being shot down.

Three shattering explosions in the south-west shortly before sunrise closed London’s thirteenth nightlong raid. A raider was apparently unloading before scurrying to escape the R.A.F. dawn patrols. A lngh-explosive bomb levelled six and damaged many houses in the northeast.

Thousands of 'East End residents are sheltering in the Holborn underground. Many are homeless. Major-General and Mrs William Hugh Usher Smith were both killed when a bomb struck their hotel.

(Major-General Usher Smith, C. 8., C.8.E., D. 5.0., served in the South African War and the European War. Ho was Directing Ordnance Officer in J. 925 and retired in 1926.)

FEW PENETRATE.

THURSDAY’S RAIDERS,

NEW DIRECTION CHOSEN,

(Rec. 8.5 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 20. Last night’s raiders met a blaze of searchlights over Kent and the Thames Estuary but, flying above the clouds, they proceeded north, attempting to come in to the city by a new path over the north-west suburbs. The clouds baffled, the searchlights which then suddenly went off as fighters roared up and attempted to seek out the raiders and divert them from their targets. Some of the raiders, nevertheless, penetrated over the central area, where the anti-aircraft barrage was as heavy as ever. The raiders dive-bombed and glidebombed from low heights, stirring the anti-aircraft guns into a new frenzy. A raider which was brought down by anti-aircraft fire in South-AVest London early this morning missed a hospital as it crashed to the ground, where it blew up. One of the occupants baled out and was captured.

Last night’s official communique stated: “No large-scale air action lias been reported during the day (Thursday). Two enemy aircraft dropped bombs in districts in the south-east of London, causing some damage and casualties. Both were engaged by our fighters and one was shot down. Bombs were also dropped on the coastal areas of Essex and Sussex and at one point in .the west of England, but the number of casualties was small. In spite of bad visibility, pur fighters successfully intercepted a large proportion of the enemy, and five enemy bombers in all have been destroyed. When a single raider bombed the London area- this afternoon considerable damage was caused. However, the activity during the day over Britain iu general was exceptionally slight. An Air Ministry communique states: Enemy activity last night was on a smaller scale with less effective attacks again directed mainly on London and its suburbs. A bomb struck the escape hatch of a public shelter in North London and some of those taking refuse were killed and injured. Houses and industrial buildings elsewhere were 111 High explosives caused damage in the East End and set fire to a factory. There were some fatalities in tins district. Bombs fell in Lancashire, Essex, Surrev Berkshire, Kent, and also in the Midlands and aries set fire to a hospital m Jtssex. Two cottages in a Berkshire village were demolished . ami a few people were killed and injured-