UNABATED FURY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24410, 23 September 1940, Page 7

UNABATED FURY

BOMBING OF LONDON TERRORS FOR CHILDREN EVACUATION ESSENTIAL (United Press Association) • . ; ,' s (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) .-'•.'>"- ' . LONDON, Sept. 22. ; . \ (Received Sept. 22, at 11 p.m.) 1 ' The "blitzbbmbing" of London entered its third week with unabated fury. Nocturnal blasting from .guns and bombs, with the . usual visitation shortly after nightfall, provided the now. familiar : scene of completely empty streets and a sky lit by flashes and heavy detonations. The raid began after a brief preliminary in which .16 or 70 raiders attempted to fly up the Thames Estuary. Some penetrated western and south-western suburbs and dropped bombs. Another batch of 50 Messerschmitts over the south-east coast turned , tail without a fight on the appearance of Hurricanes. : The raiders in London's second raid seemed to come in from <\ several directions. The bombing started fires, none of which survived an hour. It is believed that a raider was hit and exploded in riiidairover the western suburbs. - . . v The Daily Mail says: " The slogan * Get the children out' should be Pinned up in every, Miriistry in Whitehall. Night after night thousands of children in danger areas are suffering the terrors of constant bombing. Hundreds are being killed and some have seen ~ their parents slaughtered and watched their world crumble. The . search for safety is a'pilgrimage of misery. Children are condemned to sleep in the humid atmosphere of stations which are unhealthy and there is no sanitation. These dreadful ordeals must be spared the generation to which we look to build a brave new world after the war. Evacuation must be speeded up, and something more ' .vigorous is needed, than the Government gently Urging parents to let their children go. A lot of nonsense is written about the wise- . crackih'g' , 'Cockney''joking of horrors around him.. These horrors •-are no't : jokes and the "average Cockney does not think them funny."

MORALE UNSHAKEN % Business as usual" americans impressed (British Official Wireless) ■ ..„ •■■ ),RUGBY, Sept,,2l. .'. • (Received-Septi-s2,* at 7-p.mi) • The slogan "Business as,.usual" appears on most of the business premises in all the parts of. London which have been damaged by enemy bombing. In particular shops partially wrecked'.in the early part of the Week 1 are; carrying on, haying been temporarily refurnished and restored.' * ••" Windows blown in by blast are replaced by wooden shutters and other makeshift material, and workmen are busily engaged replenishing' "fittings destroyed. The minimum of interference occurred .in premises .not' entirely destroyed by blast or fire.: Even in Oxford street, where some big stores suffered severely from bombing, most .of. the shops will be: opened again on Monday and, in some of'them, fresh window displays of newly erected shelves and stands were already attracting customers to-day. The ; wreckage has been almost entirely cleared from, the streets. Arrangements have been made •with the sanction of the Board of Trade wher.eby wholesalers may distribute stocks at: present concentrated in warehouses by placing them for storage with retailers. This plan has been adopted at the instance of certain trade organisations in order to minimise the risk of damage from air raids. A message from New York says that the United States Army commission which has returned there after a month in London reported that intensive bombings had not done serious military damage and had not affected the morale. Briga-dier-general George Strong, the spokesman,. said he did not believe there will be a decision this winter. "If the bombings are continued for a year at the same rate as in the past. 10 days, the result then would probably be serious, but the R.A.F. is at its peak."

SHELTER PROBLEM PLANS FOR LONDON NIGHTLY MIGRATION USE OF TUBE STATIONS V.. .'■/'■'■ LONDON, Sept. 20., 'As. thousands began to stream into v the;tube stations this evening it was announced that the authorities were converting a large section of the Piccadilly line into an air raid shelter. The section is 563 yards long, and has a varying depth of between 95 and 135 feet. Conversion should be simple. The tracks will be boarded over, and the tube is already well lit, although improved ventilation .will be necessary. Meanwhile, London's shelter problem is receiving increased prominence. The conditions ii many of poorer districts - are pitiable. There is insufficient sanitation and seating, and thousands are forced to stand for hours. The Government plans include an organised nightly migration from the East End, fleets of buses taking people to and from the allotted shelters. The Ministry of Home Security intends to speed up the wOrk of shelter improvement throughout London. While the conversion of the tubes was under discussion, thousands again took matters into their own hr.nds, and settled down on the piatforms for the night. Overcrowding is acute, and the atmosphere is most unpleasant. Many resorted to sleeping on the steps and the escalators. Lessening the Inconvenience Measures are being adopted by the Ministry of Home Security and local authorities to lessen the inconvenience caused by random bombing. From Monday, Post Offices will remain open after the public sirens are sounded until the second warning, indicating imminent danger, is eceived. It is generally anticipated that compensation for essential clothing and furniture lost by raid victims will now be paid in full, the previous limits of £3O for clothing and £SO for furniture being removed. Daytime Shelters The chief measure, however, is understood to concern the adaptation of daytime shelters for night use by the provision of shelter marshals, sanitary arrangements, an<i possible sleeping facilities. Many basements not already requisitioned will be equipped for "round the clock " use. as well as those already adapted for daytime only. The plans for transporting people from more vulnerable areas where the shelter provisions are insufficient are understood to include the division of night evacuation areas into groups of streets, each group having allotted shelters in another area. From each group private coaches and buses will leave at a fixed time in the evening and return the people to their homes in the morning. Experiments, however, will first nave to be made. Good-humoured philosophy, states the Daily Mail, is the rule everywhere in the tube stations, where many people now take food and bedding in the evenings. "Don't forget to put your shoes outside the door," a porter told a woman' who was making elaborate preparations for the night. Restrictions Probable The use of tube stations as shelters is expected to be restricted to those without alternative accommodation. The Government is determined that, come what may, an adequate supply of essential foodstuffs shall be available at prices which the poorer classes can afford. "We are already subsidising bread, meat, and bacon to the tune of over £1,000.000 a. week,'" said Mr Robert Boothby, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food, in a speech at Manchester-