HOT RECEPTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24423, 8 October 1940, Page 7

HOT RECEPTION

RAIDERS OVER LONDON VIOLENCE OF BARRAGE "A SINISTER CHORUS” (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph --Copyright) LONDON. Oct. 6. Londoners had a long night of shattering gunfire and crashing bombs. Even people in the deepest shelters felt the violence of the antiaircraft barrage which at many times seemed greatei in intensity than hitherto .experienced The guns barked out almost immediately after the alert, and continued sometimes for long periods They were occasionally heard singly but more frequently in a sinister chorus, in which several calibre? could be distinguished i . The official account says enemy air attacks during the night were directed mainly against London and adjacent areas, A few small scale attacks of short duration were also made on some other parts of the country both last evening and last night Dwelling houses, commercial and industrial premises in London and some surrounding districts suffered damage A‘ number of fires were caused, but many were quickly put out. and all have been brought under control A number of casualties, some fatal, are reported Bombs were also dropped on places in eastern counties, southeast England, and on a few points elsewhere Houses and other buildings in. some localities were destroyed dr damaged The number of casualties reported from all these areas is small. An enemy bomber was destroyed during the night. Three more of our pilots reported missing yesterday are now known to be safe. Our loss, therefore, was only two.

Daylight Raiders Tip-and-run raiders, taking advantage of low cloud, were active early to-day. Several crossed the coast heading for London, but were turned back by anti-aircraft fire before reaching the centre of the city. Bombs are reported to have dropped in the south-western and south-east-ern. districts. A'few minutes before the first alert in the London area in the morning British fighters intercepted enemy planes over the north-west area and single raiders over the outskirts of London again in the afternoon. When a salvo of seven bombs dropped in east London early in the morning one struck a tunnel of a public shelter in which many had been sheltering all night and killed three women and two men. The Air Ministry _ news service says the Canadian Air Force squadron, also Poles, participated in yesterday’s air battle over Kent. One Polish squadron destroyed eight Messerschmitts. Women and Children Killed . Four wonien and two children were , killed at Folkstone when a raider, diving from clouds, dropped several bombs on small houses. One bomb demolished a house in which there were five children, including a year-old baby. Two of the children were killed. ... . A Domier, diving on a town in East Anglia, machine-gunned a number of sxpal] boys, but there were no casualties.