DRIVEN OFF

Taranaki Daily News, 14 September 1940, Page 7

DRIVEN OFF

By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.

LONDON RAIDERS LITTLE DAMAGE DONE

ONLY FEW CASUALTIES

Rec. 12.30 a.m. London, Sent. 13. Few casualties and much less damage in the London area were the feature of German air raids last night and this morning. The raids covered a wider area of England than they have for some time. Daylight raids on London were tried by the Germans to-day but this morning they were again driven off by the barrage. In south- west London two rounds by an anti-aircraft battery brought down a bomber in a park. The"crew baled out. A report from a Welsh town says a German aircraft was brought down and set fire to a house. The pilot, who was injured, was taken to hospital. Not on Heavy Scale, It is officially stated that enemy air attacks last night were not on a heavy scale, but were directed against many areas of Britain. Defences at many points heavily engaged planes operating singly or in small formations. A number of high explosive bombs and incendiaries fell in and around London. Some fires were started in London by incendiary bombs, but they were soon under control. In one suburb, which seems to have suffered as much as any, a dozen houses were damaged and a timber yard was set on fire. When one alarm was sounded this morning Londoners were going to work. Most of them continued normally on their way. England is rapidly adapting her whole industrial system to air raid conditions. The sirens are regarded as signals to be alert and workers on essential industries including exports carry on until an attack in the vicinity is imminent. Delaye '-Action Bomb. A ' delayed-action bomb extensively damaged the fronts of three shops in Regent Street last night. V/indows of buildings on both sides of the street were blown out. The Picadilly Hotel was slightly damaged. The raiders dropped a number of incendiary bombs in the north-west suburbs. Their planes droned towards cen> tral London where gunfire rose to a shattering roar, rattling the windows and spraying shrapnel on rooftops and street. Then followed a long interval of silence suggesting that fewer planes were participating or that the barrage prevented penetration of the outer defences. The Midlands had the longest raid of the war extending for several hours. High explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped on a wide area. A mental hospital was hit. Some houses were destroyed by bombs in two towns of Laricashire and also a town on the eastern outskirts ,of London. There were a small number of casualties in each place. Little damage and few casualties resulted elsewhere.