FIERCE BARRAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24419, 3 October 1940, Page 9

FIERCE BARRAGE

DEFENCE OF LONDON THE NIGHT MADE HIDEOUS HOT RECEPTION FOR RAIDERS (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph-Copyright) LONDON, Oct. 1. Patrolling British warplanes assisted thg barrage in keeping off night raiders, who. in the early hours, dropped most of their bombs in widely-separated areas around London, including, northern, southeastern. and south-western suburbs. It is officially stated that the enemy air attacks last night were directed mainly on London. Bombs were also dronned on the Merseyside and South-east England. A number of houses in North-east London were destroyed, but the damage was not extensive. Fires caused on the Merseyside were quickly controlled and there was no serious damage. A number of premises were hit in an East Midlands town, where several nersons were fatally injured. The casualties elsewhere were not large. During the evening attack on South-east England, two Messerschmitts met an unusual end. One was shot down by his fellows, and the other crashed in Windsor Great Park after its pilot had failed to recover from a flat-out dive on two Ansons. He tried a steep turn at only 1800 feet. The pilot was taken prisoner by a New Zealand Hurricane pilot, who was driving a car near the park while on leave. The New Zealander said the two Ansons were flying together, fairly low, when the Messerschmitt came screaming down. The Ansons took no notice. “ When the Messerschmitt came down I drove to the German, who put up his hands, after which I took him in the car to an R.A.F. station and handed him over to a special constable.” Raiders’ New Tactics Londoners heard between 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock this morning one of the fiercest anti-aircraft barrages so far. The night for minutes at a time was rendered hideous by the deafening roar, as the raiders, apparently adopting new tactics, swooped down in defiance of the barrage. West End and Central London quivered as the big guns blazed away at the intruders, who seemed to be roaring over the housetops. One big fire was started, but was controlled before dawn. Four heavy bombs falling near a famous Central London square caused no casualties. Houses in a neighbouring mews were demolished. One bomb destroyed a street of working-class houses in South-west London. Twenty-two people were rescued from the wreckage. Many are’ believed to have been killed.

A Junkers bomber surprisingly appeared over South-east London after daylight. It flew over housetops, firing cannon, then roared over a train which was machine-gunned. Some of the bullets penetrated the roof,. but there were no casualties. The bomber later raked two streets in the south-eastern area with machine-gun fire. A raider which crashed at Redhill after a fight with a Hurricane in the morning is believed to have been the machine which attacked the train. Fires Quickly Extinguished South-eastern villagers saw a “ Molotov breadbasket ” fall and illuminate the district for miles. Eight separate fires were started, but were quickly extinguished. Four people were killed and seven injured in south-east inland towns when high explosives fell on a I'esidential area. Several bombs fell on an East Midland town. Five people were killed and many injured when a factory was damaged by a directhit. •

After driving his sick wife to hos-pital-through the barrage, a South London resident was buried when his home was wrecked by a bomb. A raider bombed the district after the all clear, demolishing three houses, in which five were killed. Others are still buried. A number of houses were demolished in East London outskirts, where a large house was burned out by an oil bomb.

A “Molotov breadbasket” fell in a field near a South-east London hospital containing 370 children. There were no casualties. The Germans bombed a thicklypopulated South-west London district this afternoon. Some casualties are reported.

To-day’s raids were in three phases. The anti-aircraft' defences repulsed single raiders in Northwest, South-west and Central London. Group-Captain’s Feat The group-captain of the Fighter Command went up in a Hurricane last evening to watch his squadrons at work. When he came down he had made 18 Heinkel bombers , turn tail, destroyed one Messerschmitt 109, and also watched one Messerschmitt shoot down another By mistake. He was not seeking a fight. The group-captain—a rank corresponding with a colonel in the Army and a captain in the Navy—had gone up to study the battle movements of the squadron under his command, and to find out whether tactics or training could be improved. At 17,000 ft he met 18 Heinkel 111 bombers flying north oVer/Surrey, with Messerschmitt 109’s above them. The group-captain immediately closed with the bombers, harassing them with head-on attacks until they flew south' away from him, then he went after the Messerschmitt fighters. Three of them were pressing another Hurricane, but the pilot, by brilliant flying, managed to evade them and dived dov n out of their reach. The Messerschmitts were in line astern. The groun-captain was just about to dive on them from behind, and was astonished to see the first Messerschmitt burst into flames and its pilot bale out.