SAFE IN PORT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 August 1940, Page 5

SAFE IN PORT

CONVOY VAINLY SHELLED BY GERMANS FIFTY THOUSAND TONS OF FOOD. AND OTHER ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10 a.m.) RUGBY, August 23. The convoy which was unsuccessfully shelled in the Straits of Dover yesterday has arrived in the Thames, with over 50,000 tons of food and other- essential commodities. RED GLOW IN SKY ALONG CHANNEL COAST. R.A.F. ATTACK DRIVEN HOME. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 9.30 a.m.) RUGBY, August 23. A German shell is reported to have wrecked a church, passing through a stained glass window near the altar and exploding' within the building. While the shelling was proceeding a parachute flare, which appeared over the French coast, signalled the opening of the R.A.F. reply, which was pressed home with great vigour. Detonations were heard on the English coast and from Calais to Boulogne a red glow in the sky and low down on the water-line indicated the effectiveness of the counter-attack.

The Dover correspondent of the “Daily Mail” states that the German guns which fired on Dover last' night are probably of 12-inch calibre and apparently are positioned close to Calais., Though at one time the shells were dropping at the rate of one a minute the population of Dover took the bombardment quietly and there was no panic. At least two persons were killed and nine injured. A 8.8. C. observer who toured Dover to inspect the effects of the shelling said that the craters caused by the shells were not large, and as most of them fell on roadways not much damage was done. Nazi Party officials in Berlin, who describe yesterday's shelling of a convoy in the English Channel as “target practice,” declare that Germany has a new weapon to control the Channel, whose force will soon make itself felt. The Berlin news agency states that British long-range guns yesterday evening shelled the region of Calais. The agency claimed that no damage was done, FEW ROUNDS FIRED ACROSS CHANNEL. BRITISH OFFICIAL REPORT. (Received This Day, 9 a.m.) LONDON, August 23. It is officially confirmed that a few rounds were fired across the Channel last night from the English coast.