NAZI SAVAGERY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 April 1941, Page 6

NAZI SAVAGERY

WANTON & SENSELESS RAID ON LONDON EIGHT HOSPITALS HIT PEOPLE UNDISMAYED. GO TO WORK TALKING OF “NOISY NIGHT.” (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day. 11.55 a.m.) RUGBY. April 17. It is generally agreed that the air attack on London last night was one of the heaviest yet experienced. Of eight hospitals hit, one was a maternity home and another cared for mental patients. In a third, a bomb exploded in the centre of a ward containing

fifty women, killing many of them. More than a hundred guests had a fortunate escape when a shower of incendiaries fell on a hotel roof, followed by a high-explosive bomb falling nearby and doing extensive damage by blast. Many of the guests were on their way to shelters when windows and doors were blown in and the ceiling fell on them, but were only slightly injured. ■ A London club which received a direct hit was occupied by overseas troops. A bomb tore through the side of the building and hurled occupants from their beds into the basement. When the roof of a church was blazing from end to end, and large pieces of wood began to crash in the building, nuns continued to remove sacred vessels to safety. Yet with this toll of wanton and senseless destruction, Londoners this morning are patiently and cheerfully making their way to their places of work, commenting on the “noisy night” they have spent, making light of some of the inevitable traffic delays and generally living up to the reputation for amazing endurance which they earned during last winter. The American Ambassador (Mr J. G. Winant) was in the streets before dawn, talking with victims, and is reported as saying that he was more than ever impressed by the spirit shown by the people of London. So far this month the Nazis have lost 64 machines in night raids over Britain and individual British pilots have mounting “scores,” one having reached a total of ten with,,three shot down on Tuesday night.

NIGHT OF TERRORS PEOPLE SIT IN CAVE-LIKE HOMES. GALLANT WORK OF WARDENS & POLICE. - ' ' I (Received This Day, 11.25 a.m.) LONDON, April 17. The Nazi air raid last night appeared to be largely concentrated cn districts which suffered most heavily in the autumn blitz. Residents of these districts received a hammering more terrifying than even Wellsian predictions. Under a blood-red sky, every terror of aerial warfare was let loose. Lighting failed in some districts. Elsewhere blasts carried away windows and “window-coverings, so that countless people sat throughout the night in cave-like homes, lit only by flares, fires and bomb-bursts. A procession of large bombers dropped their cargoes at random. Then squadrons of smaller and faster planes tenaciously endeavoured to reach special objectives and dived and re-dived, with an earsplitting roar, to release individual bombs. Particularly heavy casualties resulted when sticks of high explosives fell in the courtyard of a working-class block. People sheltering under the courtyard, and those remaining in their homes, suffered alike. The cries of injured adults and children continued pitifully throughout hours. Great masses of debris had to be removed before the injured could be reached. Ambulances carrying some casualties arrived at hospitals to find them hit too. A bomb fell beside a block of flats, where it is feared there were many casualties. Although bombs were still falling, wardens and police began clambering over the debris, seeking the injured, even before the dust and smoke had cleared.

Many were killed or injured when bombs demolished two rows of houses in a closely-populated area.

RAID A REPRISAL ACCORDING TO GERMANS. (Received This Day, 11.25 a.m.) LONDON, April 17. The Gorman High Command announced that the raid on London was a reprisal for the British raid on Berlin and Potsdam on April 9 and 10. Similar reprisals are threatened. ENEMY PLANES TOLL TAKEN BY BRITISH FIGHTERS. AND GROUND DEFENCES. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.45 a.m.) RUGBY, April 17.

An Air Ministry and Ministry of Home Security communique says: “It is now known that an enemy fighter was destroyed over the French coast yesterday. Four more enemy bombers were shot down in last night’s raid on London, making six in all. Three were destroyed by fighters and three by anti-aircraft fire. “Two enemy aircraft were shot down in the Straits of Dover this morning by fighters. A single enemy aircraft bombed a town in north-east Scotland today. The damage was small, but casualties included several persons killed. Elsewhere no enemy action is reported.”