HEAVY GUNFIRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 October 1940, Page 6

HEAVY GUNFIRE

LONDON DEFENCES IN ACTION MANY RAIDERS REPELLED FROM INNER ZONE. DEATHS AND DAMAGE IN SOME AREAS. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) (Received This Day, 11.15 a.m.) LONDON, October 21. Heavy gunfire from the outer defences kept many raiders from the inner London zone last night. A bomb killed four persons and injured a number of others when it demolished two shops and two houses. Thirty policemen were in a canteen when a bomb struck a London police station. The canteen and gymnasium were practically wrecked. The policemen were rescued from the debris only five being injured. A time bomb fell near two shelters, from which 50 people were evacuated. Time bombs also fell in three localities in the Midlands, causing evacuations. A thousand people in a London shelter escaped unhurt when a bomb landed at the entrance to the shelter, which was blocked. Six explosive bombs dropped on an institution and emergency hospital in a Midlands town, affecting two wings and also a nurses’ home, causing casualties, one of which was fatal. Many bombs fell harmlessly in country districts. Raiders were reported over manyparts of the country this morning. Five workmen were killed in a south-coast town. Anti-aircraft fire shot down a raider near Ipswich. A number of houses were damaged and a water main was burst when three bombs fell in a London area in the afternoon. By mid-afternoon the raiders had bombed 16 districts in Britain, of which 11 were in London. Ten people were fatally injured when the greater part of a Y.M.C.A. headquarters was rendered uninhabitable by bombs. Those killed and injured were mostly in a reading room. Five hundred members sheltering in a gymnasium were unhurt. A time bomb fell near the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square in a recent raid. It exploded later, smashing windows. German guns fired across , the Straits of Dover this afternoon. HOUSES HIT AIR MINISTRY REPORT. FACTORY IN LANCASHIRE DAMAGED. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.25 a.m.) RUGBY, October 21. An Air Ministry and Ministry of Home Security communique states: “A number of single enemy aircraft crossed the South Coast this morning and flew towards London. A small number also penetrated to the Midlands and north-west. These activities were reported on a smaller scale this afternoon. Bombs were dropped in the London area, mostly on the outskirts. Some houses were hit and a block of flats was damaged. The number of casualties was small, but included some killed. A factory was damaged in Lancashire and some further damage was done at several points on the Channel coast. The casualties were nowhere large in number, but some persons were killed. Our anti-aircraft guns and fighter defences have been in action throughout the day and one enemy bomber is known to have been destroyed.” R.A.F. ATTACKS SOME GRUDGING ADMISSIONS BY NAZIS. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) (Received This Day, Noon.) LONDON, October 21. A German communique deals briefly with raids against London and mentions “further large fires on both sides of the Thames.” Referring to the R.A.F. raids, the communique admits that railway lines in Western. Germany were hit, houses demolished and several civilions killed.