RAID ON LONDON

Taranaki Daily News, 10 September 1940, Page 7

RAID ON LONDON

By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.

BOMBS OYER WIDE AREA

INDISCRIMINATE ATTACK

Received 1.30 a.m. London, September a. A IR attacks on London on a scale that exceeded Saturday night's great raid were made by German bombers throughout the night. Warning sirens sounded at 7,58 p.m., and the all clear was not given till 5.35 a.m. after an alarm that lasted over nine and a half hours, the longest of the war so "Last night," states an Air Ministry communique, "enemy attacks on London were renewed soon after darkness f ell and continued during the night. In the offensive enemy aircraft in successive relays, operating independentlv, dropped bombs over a wide area. At no time was an intensive attack delivered by a large force. The more deliberate attacks were again made on the Thameside. Here a number of fires were caused. Elsewhere in London enemy attacks resulted in many fires, caused temporary interruption of public services and did damage to private houses and some public and mercantile buildings. Reliable assessment of the casualties is impossible at present, though it is believed that in central London the casualties were relatively slight. Many more people are going to shelters now as soon as they hear the sirens. Two minutes after \the sirens sounded enemy planes were reported over the south-east of England. Immediately after the warning one of the heaviest anti-aircraft bombardments since the beginning of mass raids opened up in the outer district of London. Raiders also approached London from another direction. Anti-aircraft guns went into action in the centre of London within a few seconds of the alarm, after which came the scream of falling bombs. Another wave of raiders approached the east of London area three-quarters of an hour later. Further salvos of bombs produced more fires, which were blazing in many parts. Raiders, sometimes very low, cruised in wide circles round the London area in addition to traversing it. There was simply no respite from the loud explosions and reverberant blasts for hour upon hour. Every now and again bombs crashed more frequently ^nd more loudly. "The raiders were not operating in mass formations, but their intention was still obviously to wipe us off the map," said a civilian defence authority. "Our services are functioning marvellously under stress."

No concerted attack was made by a large force, but raiders cruised about over London and dropped high explosive and incendiary bombs, which started new fires. Bombs were dropped in the east of London, where fires caused in the previous night's raids were still smouldering, by the first raiders who appeared over the city from the southeast. Fresh fires were also started, and air raid precautions workers and firefighting services were active throughout the night. As on the previous night, a large proportion of the bombs did no military damage. One bomb hit the nurses' home of an East London hospital, but all the nurses were in shelters and there were no casualties. Another hospital, a fivestorey building, was hit. The two top floors were seriously damaged and windows throughout the building were blown

m. Only superficial wounds were suffered by those patients who were injured. In another place a bomb fell ori a garage in which 12 persons were sheltering, but no one was hurt. In various parts of London streets were damaged. Bombs fell on tenement buildings in one area. Houses were wrecked in the southeast and a large block of flats was damaged. Many persons, it is feared, were killed in the south-west of London when a bomb fell on a concrete shelter. Incidents like these are reported from many other areas. Raiders machine-gunned a Spitfire pilot who baled out over London. The pilot landed unconscious on a barrage balloon, which had to be hauled down, and he died while en route to hospital. Raiders were also over two northeastern towns, as well as the Midlands. %