EAST ENDS TERRIBLE HAMMERING

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21216, 12 September 1940, Page 8

EAST ENDS TERRIBLE HAMMERING

MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN KILLED BLOCKS DESTROYED BRAVERY OF FIREMEN (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received Sept. 12, 3.15 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 11 Fires started by last night’s raids on London were still burning and a smoke pall hung overhead as Londoners began another day’s work. 'The City and East End again received a terrible hammering. Bombs fell almost without intermission throughout the hours of darkness. Auxiliary and regular firemen were again the heroes of the night, wrestling with outbreaks under the constant threat of further bombs. Four high explosives, followed by incendiaries, burst on a warehouse and business area in Central London, causing fires. Some buildings were seriously damaged. Firemen working in a street where the blaze was most intense clambered to the upper floor of a slightly-burning building in order to direct their hoses on premises more seriously threatened. A flaming bread-basket fell outside a shop. Burning oil spread along the street. Members of the auxiliary fire service extinguished the flames while bombs were falling in adjoining streets in which houses were demolished. An aerial torpedo completed the destruction of blocks of shops in the area where smaller bombs had caused damage the previous night. It is feared that many men, women and children evacuated from their homes after Saturday’s raids were killed when an East End school was wrecked. The school w r as used as a refuge for about 500 homeless people. Doctors and nurses worked with torches treating survivors rescued from under tons of debris. Masonry and girders crumbled down on the refugees who were sheltering on the ground floor. The rescuers found two babies, aged nine and six months respectively, alive under the ruins. Dozens of streets in this area presented a scene of mass wreckage. Many people, on emerging from the Anderson shelters, found their homes demolished.

Hospital and Church Hit The raiders attacked one area with the utmost determination. Here were concentrated scores of bombs in a small space. Several delayed-action bombs in the same district went off during the night, damaging several houses. There were some casualties when a bomb hit a hospital in the central district. A Roman Catholic church was demolished in Central London. Valuable music manuscripts and antique furniture were destroyed when the home of a well-known woman pianist was damaged. Dropping from the clouds, despite fierce anti-aircraft fire, a Dornier unloaded a cargo of bombs against a train which was en route to the coast from London. A bomb fell through the roof of an empty carriage, causing a fire, which was quickly extinguished. 73 Nazi Planes Destroyed It was stated officially at 9 o’clock that 73 enemy aircraft had been destroyed today by Royal Air Force fighters. Seventeen of our fighters were lost, but the pilots of three are safe. These figures were contained in reports up to 7.30 p.m.