NAZIS SUFFER HEAVY LOSSES

Southland Times, Issue 24244, 30 September 1940, Page 5

NAZIS SUFFER HEAVY LOSSES

The Air Ministry announces that 130 enemy aircraft were shot down today. Thirty-four of our fighters are missing, but the pilots of 15 are safe. The operations in which these enemy aircraft were brought down are described in a joint communique by the Air Ministry and the Ministry of Home Security which says that our fighters intercepted several enemy attacks on the South of England today and inflicted severe losses, particularly in the neighbourhood of London. Two of these attacks were made on London this morning and a third early in the afternoon. A few bombs fell on Central London and a number in the south and south-west districts. Some damage to houses was caused and two fires were quickly brought under control. In the South of London an industrial building was hit and a number of casualties resulted, some being fatal. Bombs were also dropped on several places in Kent and Essex, but the reports show that the damage and the casualties were slight. In the morning a force of enemy aircraft crossed Dorset and reached the outskirts of Bristol. They were heavily engaged by our fighters and driven off. Reports so far indicate that the damage and casualties are not heavy. Later this afternoon enemy aircraft crossed the south-east coast in force, but were again intercepted at a number of points and only a few reached the London area. A remarkable feature of the bombings is that not only is the loss of life less than was expected, but the damage to buildings has been less than was feared. RECENT DAMAGE STUDIED This is disclosed in a Home Office leaflet on the protection of factories, which says:—“lt has been generally

imagined that in the case of a direct hit a building and its occupants are doomed. This is not supported by the evidence obtained from a study of recent air-raid damage. There have been many cases of light 50-kilogram bombs detonating on the thin corrugated roofing of single-storied factory buildings with little damage other than to the roof covering and very slight casualties. Similar bombs detonating on the floor of a workshop remove the roof covering over a wide area but do surprisingly little damage to the machines, while there is very little danger of serious structural damage from a near miss. Very heavy bombs of 500 kilograms falling within 33 feet of a workshop with corrugated iron walls did no more than strip the sheeting from the steelwork. There is evidence in the case of a multi-story building in which all the loads were carried by steel or reinforced concrete frames, that the damage caused by even a direct hit will be confined in most cases to the floor and the part hit.”

At least 10 raiders were shot down over London’s breakfast tables when the Germans made a suicidal attempt at a daylight raid which began less than four hours after the "conclusion of the usual night onslaught. It ended quickly and disastrously for the Germans. One crashed in the city and three came down in a south-west district.

Altogether, 34 enemy planes were destroyed yesterday.

When a big wave of bombers tried to penetrate the capital’s defences in the morning they were pounced upon by fighters. The ensuing battle was fought at a great altitude. The wrecks of three bombers now lie in Surrey villages. Two more riddled bombers crashed in Westminster.