DAMAGE IN LONDON

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 August 1940, Page 5

DAMAGE IN LONDON

CINEMAS HIT IN TWO DISTRICTS PEOPLE IN CENTRAL AREA UNDISTURBED. SOME FATALITIES IN OTHER TOWNS. (By Telegraph—-Press Association —Copyright) (Received This Day, 9 a.m.) LONDON, August 23. Reports of the night air attack on London show that bombs fell in three areas on the outskirts. It was the first time since the outbreak of war on which Londoners had been roused from their beds by gunfire, sirens and the distant thud of bombs. Two cinemas were hit in separate districts. No deaths are reported.

Many people in Central London slept through the warning period. Others, who heard the gunfire, saw a brilliant searchlight display. The anti-aircraft barrage in one London area is described as terrific. When one cinema was hit its boilerhouse was practically wrecked and the boilers were left hanging fantastically near the orchestral stalls. The cinema walls were torn down and pieces, 4ft long, were hurled for fifteen yards. Shop windows in the vicinity were smashed. Many flat-dwellers in the neighbourhood, who were asleep, had no time to rush to the shelters. Their beds were littered with glass splinters. The rear wall of the flats was blown cut, leaving the interiors exposed. The furniture of one room was scattered in the street. Bombs fell in another suburb where there was a second cinema. A bank and flats above shops were damaged and windows widely shattered. The street today is closed against traffic. Only two or three people were slightly injured. A bomber, hotly pursued by a British fighter, jettisoned six bombs on a north-east coast town this morning and two children of the ages of 3 and 7 were killed. The father and mother, who were asleep, were blown into the roadway from an upstairs bedroom. Considerable damage to houses and hotels was done.

Another raider dropped bombs in south-east England. One man was killed, and two were injured. A raider in a north-east of Scotland town dropped four bombs, one of which fell on a bungalow and killed a man and his grandson, whose mother was critically injured. An air raid warden was also killed.

COAST DEFENCES INSPECTED BY THE KING. (Received This Day. 10.5 a.m.) LONDON, August 23. His Majesty the King inspected harbour defences at a south-east coast port.