LONDON’S COURAGE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 258, 28 September 1940, Page 7

LONDON’S COURAGE

IN FRONT LINE BATTLE

BUSINESS CARRIES ON

(British Official Wireless.) (Rec. 10.5 a.in.) RUGBY, Sept. 27. The speed with which London has accommodated itself to. front-line battle experiences has deeply impressed foreign observers, and the disturbance to business life is less pronounced than was anticipated. Some business premises have, of course, been completely destroyed, but in others temporary repair of the damage has been undertaken, and with minimum delay business is being continued. This is particularly noticeable in the case of shopping centres which have been bombed, and even in, the much-bombed Oxford Street business life is once again flowing strongly. Throughout the capital the' public services which have become so much a part of our lives that their continuance passes almost unnoticed are being maintained. The trade as a whole laid its plans before the war, and they have worked admirably. The arrangements in the uninterrupted operation of the milk distributing trade are a good example of what is occurring in other essential industries, not only in London, but the provincial towns which have been heavily attacked. RESTRICTED DAMAGE.

A remarkable feature of the bombings is that not only is the loss of life less than was expected, but the damage to buildings is less than was feared. This is disclosed in a Home Office leaflet on the protection of factories, which says:— “It is generally imagined that in the case of a direct hit the buildings and its occupants' are doomed. This is not supnorted by evidence obtained from the study of • recent air-raid damage. There have been many cases of light 50-kilogram bombs detonating on the thin corrugated roofing of singlestorey factory buildings with little damage other than to the roof covering and very slight casualties. Similar bombs detonating on the floor of a shop remoye the roof covering over a wide area, but do surprisingly little damage to the machines. There is very little danger of serious structural damage from a near miss. < ‘Very heavy bombs of 500 kilograms falling within 33ft. of a workshop with corrugated iron walls did no, moie than strip the sheeting from the steelwork. There is evidence in the case of multi-storey buildings in which all loads are carried by steel or reinforced concrete frames that the damage caused by even a direct hit will be local and confined in most cases to the floor and the part hit. The Dean and the Chapter of Sat. Paul’s Cathedral have decided to place a tablet near the spot from which the time-bomb was removed on September 15 by Lieutenant Davies and his bomb disposal section of the lioyal Engineers. The plan will be deferred until after the war, or at least until after the attack on London ends.

lIEINKEI/S CHASED AWAY

LONDON, Sept. 27. The Air Ministry reveals that during a half-hour attack against Southampton one British and one Polish fighter squadron shot clown all 31 Germans destroyed yesterday. Fifty Heinlcel bombers heavily protected by fighters approached the Isle of Might at a height of 16,000 ft. The Poles, flying Hurricanes, immediately attacked the bombers and chased some across the Channel to France. Meanwhile nine Spitfires took on a further 30 bombers escorted by fighters at a height of 14,000 ft. and chased the attackers to sea after, a series of thrilling encounters. ■Watchers on the English coast cheered relays of -our bombers as they swept over the Channel to attack the invasion bases. The avalanche of bombs lit up the sky on the French coast. , , - Raiders again kept up bombing throughout London all night. Central London was again comparatively quiet for the first few hours despite the occasional flaring up of gunfire and the explosion of bombs. A flistrict in North London received a bad pasting for a short period. Highexplosive bombs followed a number of flares, destroying the maternity wintr of a hospital. Other bombs razed houses and shops. Nearby incendiaries in the same area were swiftlv put out and little damage was done. Many London areas experienced similar visitations. NORTH-WEST SUFFERS.

A north-west town had the worst bombing since the outbreak cf war. Night raiders also visited a southeast coastal area. • _ , Germans guns on the I rench coast shelled the 'Dover area, a man and woman being killed. The Air Ministry reports: Air attacks last night covered many parts oF the country but centred mainly in London and the surrounding d.strums and areas in North-West England. Houses and commercial and industrial premises were damaged. Several fires resulted from incendiaries and there were a number of casualties. .... “Houses and commercial buildings on the Merseyside were damaged. The number of casualties thus far reported •from all districts is not large. The fire services have shown the greatest promptness and efficiency.