ATTACKS ON LONDON

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 September 1940, Page 5

ATTACKS ON LONDON

ALL PRETENCE THROWN OFF BY NAZIS BOMBS SCATTERED AT RANDOM PEOPLE CALM & DETERMINED. ENEMY LOSES 52 PLANES ON MONDAY. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, September 10. A communique by the Air Ministry this morning states: “Following heavy losses inflicted upon him by our fighters and the repulse of his attacks yesterday evening, the enemy has now thrown off all pretence of confining himself to military targets. Reports have been received during the past night of bombs scattered at random over London without any distinguishable objective.” The communique states that fires were caused in the vicinity of St Paul’s Cathedral and the Guildhall in central London. A large maternity hospital was twice attacked, and there were a number of casualties. Other bombs fell on an institution for the aged, a London County Council housing estate, a large number of workmen’s cottages, specially in the East End, which were heavily and repeatedly attacked. Bombs were also scattered in residential districts of western and northern London. The number of casualties last nigh* the Air Ministry states, has not yet been established. It adds that the casualties on Sunday night are now known to have been 286 dead and approximately 1400 seriously injured. It is officially stated that on the latest reports a total of 52 enemy aircraft were destroyed yesterday, 49 by fighters and three by groundfire. Thirteen British 'fighters are missing but the pilots of six are safe. RAID ON CHANNEL PORTS. The enemy shelled Dover last evening and the gunfire was returned. At dusk the Royal Air Force hammered the German gun emplacements on the French coast, and the concussion of bombs falling on the gun positions shook the ground on the British side of the Channel. It was one of the most violent raids against the German-held Channel ports. The Berlin correspondent of the Associated Press says the city had a 43minute alarm last night. It is reported that a number of flares were seen on the northern outskirts of the city. British bombers also attacked industrial centres, including the strong-ly-fortified town of Stettin on the mouth of the River Weser. After the third night of indiscriminate bombing Londoners this morning are calm, quiet and determined. The night’s raid warning lasted for nine hours six minutes. A number of people have lost some sleep, some have had their houses damaged, and some —a surprisingly small proportion of the whole —have suffered injury. But for the most part Londoners have been finding their way to work. The business of getting to work has become something of a problem. Thousands of men and women waited patiently at suburban stations this morning to find out what trains were running. The railway carriages were packed tight. In the streets of London an unusual number of people set out to walk to work. Buses are still running, but in many places they have had to make a detour round a crater in the road or a collapsed building.