ON SMALL SCALE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 November 1940, Page 6

ON SMALL SCALE

ENEMY AIR ATTACKS ON BRITAIN ATTACKS ON SHIPPING REPELLED. NAZIS LOSE TWENTY PLANES. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 12.3 p.m.) 'RUGBY, November 8. Enemy air activity over Britain to 5 p.m. today was on a small scale. A few bombs were dropped bv single aircraft, states an Air Ministry and Ministr of Home Security communique, at a point on the West Coast and in a country district in the Midlands. No damage or casualties wore caused by these attacks. Formations of fighters or fighterbombers crossed the South-East Coast on two occasions. Only a small number penetrated to the London area, where a few bombs were dropped. There was little damage and casualties were few. The Air Ministry announced at 9.10 p.m. that twenty enemy aircraft are now known to have been destroyed today. The communique continues that a large number of dive-bombers, with strong fighter escort, tried on several occasions to attack shipping off our east and south-east coasts. On each occasion they were heavily engaged by our fighters and fifteen of them were shot down by one squadron. Six of our aircraft are reported lost or missing, but the pilots of two of these are known to be safe.

NIGHT RAIDS WORKERS’ FLATS DAMAGED. JUNKERS CARRYING BIG LOADS OF HEAVY BOMBS. (Received This Day, 10.50 a.m.) LONDON. November 8. A street in a London area containing a number of workers’ flats was bombed last night and was littered this morning with household goods which families were rescuing from the debris. No fewer than ten bombs were rained on a big hospital. Two made direct hits and the others ringed the hospital with craters. Two nurses and four children were the only casualties. One ward directly hit had been emptied on the previous day. Some London men and girls were machine-gunned while going to work. A bomb which fell in a park killed a soldier and a girl. A noticeable reduction of the barrage over London last night is reported to be due to the activity of the R.A.F. night fighters. The Germans are believed to be restricting fighter-bomb-ers to daylight attacks and to be employing Junkers heavily loaded at night, many carrying very heavy-cali-bre bombs. The Luftwaffe opened daylight attacks with two waves of fighter-bomb-ers, which crossed the coast at Dungeness and headed for London. Dogfights were seen at a tremendous height over the capital during the first and second alerts. Crowds of Londoners stood in the streets watching the air battle.

A corporal with a Bren gun shot down a Dornier bomber at Abberton today. The crew of six were captured. It is revealed that the Tower of London and the Church of St. Clement Danes were bombed during recent raids. GERMAN REPORT (Received This Day, 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, November 8. A German communique mentions explosions at Tilbury Docks, fires at Coventry, the destruction of warehouses at Brixton and hits on Dover. It refers to R.A.F. damage to houses in several Rhineland towns, where a number of persons were killed and wounded.