IN DISORDER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24424, 9 October 1940, Page 7

IN DISORDER

NAZI PLANES SCATTERED ATTACKS ON ENGLAND THRILLING AIR BATTLES (United. Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph Copyright) LONDON, Oct. 7. The Air Ministry's forty-eighth casualty list contains 305 names, including 126 killed. 41 wounded and 125 missing. London had six alerts during today. More thrilling air battles occurred during the morning, when, several groups of German planes crossed the Kent coast. British fighters broke up their formations, which scattered in disorder. AntimmHpmmgmsmmmsßmgßtmmsn

smmmiijsunntmmaasiniutntttmin aircraft guns put up a lively barrage when the raiders tried to penetrate inland. One Junkers dive-bomber dropped high explosives on a Kent town, directly hitting a cottage. One was killed and several injured. A whistling bomb fell in a street in a Kent town. Twelve nuns were kneeling in prayer before an altar at a convent’s little chapel in a coast town in' Kent when a raider dropped bombs which smashed 300 windows of the building, but no one was injured. Another bomb partly wrecked a sanatorium from which children have been evacuated.

During the second alert in the morning raiders dropped 12 bombs on a south-east London residential district and demolished two houses, from which two people were quickly extricated. It is. feared that others are still under the debris. A shop and a warehouse were also wrecked and two were killed in another south-east London area. During the. sixth alert in the late afternoon three planes were seen over Central London. Very Few Bombs Dropped An Air Ministry and Home. Security communique states: —Considerable numbers of enemy aircraft attacked Britain during to-day. Five attacks have been attempted on London, totalling in all some 450 enemy aircraft. Large forces of our fighters engaged the enemy formations, which were broken up and dispersed In only two of these attacks did any enemy aircraft succeed in penetrating the London area, and vex-y few bombs were dropped. Reports received up to 5 p.m. show that, while several houses were demolished in South and East London, the casualties were not likely to be heavy, though they include some fatal injuries. During these attacks minor damage was also done to Eastbourne, Dover and certain other towns in Kent, but few casualties are reported. Two attacks were also made on South-west England in the afternoon, but reports are not yet available. According to the latest information 28 enemy aircraft were shot down. Fourteen British aircraft were lost, but six pilots are safe. London had its quietest night since the blitzkrieg began. An alert before dawn, like that last evening, was brief, and nothing was heard in the central districts. Night transport services operated normally The shelters had their usual occupants, who feared a night visitation. People went to work refreshed and cheerful. Brilliant sunshine followed a stormy night in the Straits of Dover. A mist veiled the French coast.

BATTLE OVER DORSET SEVEN RAIDERS DESTROYED LONDON, Oct. 7 (Received Oct. 8, at 11 p.m.) A Channel weather report states that there is a cloudless, starry sky, with a fairly calm sea, a fresh southwesterly breeze and a slight mist in the middle of the straits. A big air battle occurred over Dorset late this afternoon, when seven raiders were shot down. A high-explosive bomb fell almost directly on a public shelter in a western town, trapping women and children under masses of debris from a neighbouring building. Rescuers worked feverishly to extricate those in (he shelter, but a number are known to be dead Other deaths resulted from a direct hit which demolished a tailoring establishment. A baker and a horse were killed in the roadway Incendiary bombs rained down on Central London, setting fire to buildings, but the fires were quickly extinguished. A steady stream of raiders flew at great speed from the south-east, frequently changing direction to avoid blazing guns and searchlights. Night raiders were also over Liverpool, other North-west English areas, the Midlands, West England, South-east Scotland, and Wales. The Air Ministry announced that the day’s raids damaged a town in South-west England and commercial property in two boroughs of London. The casualties thus far are reported to be not heavy.