TACTICS VARIED

Taranaki Daily News, 21 September 1940, Page 7

TACTICS VARIED

By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.

FIGHTERS FORM SCREEN

LESS ACTIYITY AT NIGHT

Received 12.30 a.m. London, September 20. Q-ERMAN planes renewed their attack on Britain this morning after a night in which they were slightly less active and less effective than usual. Strong forces crossed the south-east coast in waves and headed for London. Each wave of enemy bombers was accompanied by a wave of Messerschmitt fighters which, it was noted, were below the bombers, not above, as has been the practice heretofore. This, it appeared, was to draw anti-aircraft fire and protect the bombers. After crossing the coast the raiders split into three groups to avoid the fierce bairage. British fighters were evidently waiting for the raiders,. for when the last waves of enemy planes had arrived Spitfiies and Hurricanes had closed round the earlier arrivals and there was a series of fierce dogfights. The result was the defeat of the raiders, for, thongh there was an alert at London, no sign of the enemy was seen. Enemy planes were also seen over the Thames estuary and were engaged by the ground defences, which ceased firing when British fighters appeared. Early this morning a single German raider dropped six bombs near a coastal town in East Anglia, but all fell in the sea. "Enemy activity during the night was on a smaller scale and was less effective," said this morning's Air Ministry communique. "The attacks were mainly directed against London •$nd its suburbs. The escape hatch of a public shelter in the north of London was struck by bombs and some of those taking refuge were killed and injured. In other parts of the capital houses and industrial buildings were hit, and in the East End damage was done by high explosive bombs and a factory was set afire. In this district there was a number of casualties, some of which were fatal. "In other parts of the country bombs fell in Lancashire, Essex, Sussex, Berkshire, Kent, the Midlands, and South Wales. Incendiary bombs were dropped and set fire to a hospital in Essex, and a few fires were also started by this means in the Surrey woods. Two cottages in a Berkshire village were demolished by a bomb, and a few persons were killed and injured. It is known that one enemy bomber was brought down in Surrey by anti-aircraft fire."

The 13th consecutive visit to the capital by the Germans during the hours of darkness was greeted with the customary cairn, most households in the suburbs having made all preparations for as comfortable a night as possible in anticipation that the Germans would again de- i monstrate their own peculiarly brutal brand of warfare in senseless and indiscriminate bomb dropping on the homes of innocent citizens. Heavy antiaircraft fire was immediately heard in the central London area, but it was stated that lone German bombers were driven away. A few bombs were dropped in suburban districts at an early stage of the raid. . The raiders met a blaze of searchlights over Kent and the Thames estuary, but, flying above the clouds, they proceeded north and attempted to come into the city by a new path over the north-west suburbs. Clouds baffled the searchlights, which then suddenly went off as fighters roared up and attempted to seek out the raiders and divert them from their targets. Some raiders nevertheless pene-

trated the central area, where the antiaircraft barrage was as heavy as ever. j The raiders dive-bombed and glide- ' bombed from low heights, stirring the anti-aircraft guns into a new frenzy. The enemy plane which the official | communique states crashed in Surrey i was hit by anti-aircraft guns over the south and west of London. It crashed j beside a house, and only 50 yards from ; a hospital, at Merton Park. The petrol j tanks burst with a terrific explosion and | the plane was blown to fragments. Blaz- ! ing petrol spread, and people in Anderson shelters nearby were in danger, but they escaped unharmed. One of the occupants of the plane baled out and was captured. In a south-west town an incendiary bomb was dropped on a hospital and fell in a room where a woman was sleeping. She jumped from bed and ran into a corridor while members of the hospital staff dealt with the bomb. A public shelter was hit in a London park, and rescue work went on throughout the night. A Junkers 88 crashed near Cambridge after having been in an engagement with ■ fighters. Four members of the crew j were taken prisnners.