LONDON BLACK-OUT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 April 1940, Page 3

LONDON BLACK-OUT

WHERE IT BREAKS DOWN. Information about a series of observations of the London black-out made from the air by Royal Air Force officers was given recently, says -The Time.-'/' It lias been determined that London can never be completely black-eci-out but that if the regulations are complied with the black-out can be so good that it would be impossible for enemy pilots to ascertain their exact position. Consequently, only the wildest indiscriminate bombings would )>< possible. Contrary to popular belief the streets cannot be distinguished from any great altitude on moonlit nights. Before the new motor ear headlamp masks were introduced it was possible to see the whole length of thoroughfares like the Edgware Road. The side lights of motor cars can actually be seen, from the air from greater heights than the masked headlights. The flashes from tramcars and electric railways catch the eye of the observer overhead, but it is stated that they would be of little use for guiding pilots to the city. One observer described London from the air during the black-outs as resembling the vault ot the heavens on a starlit night with few diamond necklaces scattered about." The diamond necklace effect. is given by the railway marshalling yards Pedestrians’ torches could be scan from considerable heights when tlaslied above the horizontal: but the chief offender is domestic lighting. Houses which back on railway lines, where wardens and police have difficulty in controlling light, are in many parts inadequately blacked-out. A Royal Air Force officer described this as 'deliberate" disobedience of the regulations, and said that, it was extremely prevalent. Railway signal lights, in spite of the effect they have when viewed from the ground, cannot be seen from the air from any great height. The object of the black-out is to cut down the lights of large towns so that their outlines are indeterminate. Relaxations. which had been arrived at by trial and observation from the air, have probably reached their limit for safety.