LONG ATTACK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 October 1940, Page 5

LONG ATTACK

CONTINUOUS BOMBING OF LONDON DAMAGE CHIEFLY TO HOUSES & ROADS. DEFENCES IN ACTION ALL DAY & NIGHT. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, October 26. Friday night’s raid on London was the longest yet and completed 24 hours in which warnings were almost continuous. The defences were in action throughout the day and night. Various other parts of Britain were also raided. Fourteen enemy planes were destroyed and 10 British fighters lost, but the pilots of seven are safe. The Air Ministry report on Friday night’s raid stated that the damage in the London area was almost entirely to houses and some roads. There were only three large fires. Few were killed. Midland towns similarly suffered and there were also a number killed. Casualties in Scotland were few. Explosives hit buildings and services in some small coastal towns, and some searchlights were machine-gunned, but the defences were in action throughout the night. When a bomb fell outside a theatre in the London area last night, the blast struck an omnibus and killed a member of the R.A.F. and another man. Two blocks of flats were severely damaged and a public house which had previously been hit was demolished. All windows were broken in a large block of offices. Eight explosions in another district wrecked several houses and seriously injured four persons. CASUALTIES IN CLUB. Casualties, some fatal, occurred when two shelters in different districts were hit. An explosive bomb crashed into a club in the London area in which there are believed to have been many persons. Some were killed while sleeping under billiard tables. The rescuers fought through a sheet of flame from a blazing gas main, which barred one entrance, to reach \he occupants and brought out many alive. Casualties would have been heavier if the explosion had been later, because many of those usually taking shelter there had not arrived. A part-owner of the club, knowing the lay-out of the premises, was able to save many of those trapped by directing them through the debris and darkness to safety. Nine were __ killed, including two policemen, whon bombs demolished houses in the Home Counties. In tonight’s attack on London the raiders flew so high that their engines were inaudible, but the predictors picked them up and the guns provided a hot reception. Others daringly swooped just over the balloons. Highexplosive bombs and incendiaries were dropped over a wide area. A row of houses was demolished. A mother and daughter were trapped in an upstairs room when their house was severely damaged. The mother died after rescue and the daughter was already dead. A warden and his wife on the ground floor walked out unharmed. Raiders after dusk machine-gunned a town on the east coast of Scotland. There were no casualties. Wales, Liverpool and south-west England had their customary visits. Forty-six metropolitan policemen have been killed during enemy raids, 26 while on duty, and more than 300 injured, the majority slightly. Consider, ing that they are guarding time bombs and patrolling during raids, the casualties are surprisingly low. THE STOCK EXCHANGE. After resuming operations on the floor of the house after a dislocation lasting several 'days, the Stock Exchange was again interrupted only a few minutes later yesterday. Lights were extinguished in the underground settling room when the alarm sounded, resulting in the suspension of transactions. The “Manchester Guardian’s” financial editor says the younger members are complaining about the committee’s policy and feel it should take some risk, similar to that taken- by thousands of workers who continue business during raids. However, the committee is responsible for the lives of many specialists whose experience could not easily be replaced. The idea of evacuating from London has finally been shelved. One big fire caused on Friday night by a heavy calibre bomb in the London area was still blazing on Saturday afternoon. A single German raider made a surprise swoop jjn London and bombed a crowded market place, flats and a street near a shopping centre. There were 50 casualties, including several killed, in a new building which sustained a direct hit. Four were killed and eight injured in Friday night's German shelling of Dover.