MUCH DAMAGE IN LONDON

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21221, 18 September 1940, Page 7

MUCH DAMAGE IN LONDON

TERRIFIC CRASH AND EXPLOSION HEARD WELL-KNOWN STREETS AND BUILDINGS HIT (Official Wireless) (Received Sept. 18, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 17 London had six air raid alarms between 8.3 a.m. and 8.10 p.m. A few minutes before the third warning was given railway passengers standing outside a station in the London area heard a plane above the clouds. An anti-aircraft gun fired one round and the engine stopped. A terrific crash and an explosion followed. Soon after the fourth warning gunfire was heard. An enemy machine was engaged over London and the pilot was seen to bale out. The House of Commons adjourned threequarters of an hour after the warning sounded. A solitary raider bombed a south-east town this morning, hitting the principal shopping centre and several private houses. There was considerable damage and a number of casualties. It is authoritatively stated that the places damaged last night, in addition to well-known West End streets, include the Royal Arcade, the Burlington Arcade, St. Dunstan’s headquarters, Radnor House and Twickenham. .The Peruvian Legation in Cadogan Square, which recently was hit by eight incendiary bombs and was seriously damaged by fire, has become unsuable. It was necessary to demolish the upper part of the building. London’s West End Damaged

The West End, which contains London’s best known shopping streets, hotels and large private houses, suffered most in last night’s raid on London. Among the streets which were damaged were Bond Street, Oxford Street, Mayfair, Brutone Street Park Lane, Saville Row, Regent Street and Piccadilly. The Royal Arcade, Burlington Arcade, Burlington House, headquarters of the Royal Academy, Burlington Gardens, and two famous squares Berkeley Square and Sloane Square, also suffered damage. Thus the Nazis’ self-termed “reprisal raids” continue to strike at purely civil targets. Rescue Workers Injured The West End sufferers in last night’s raids included well-known shops, some of which have closed. Others are carrying on behind empty, glassless windows. A bomb fell on a big house and killed four men who were working on the ground floor and were buried under the ruins. Five rescue workers who were speeding to their aid were injured when a bomb landed in a nearby street. It is feared that some people who were taking shelter were buried when a high explosive bomb completely wrecked two shops. Women Officers Killed Mrs Amy Noel, commandant of the Women’s Legion, Miss Aileen Cooper, senior company commander, and Miss Phyllis Phillips, senior company leader, were killed by a bomb on Sunday night when operating a mobile canteen in the London area. Lord Caldecote stated in the House of Lords that for the week ended September 10 the rescue services in five London boroughs were called out on 169 occasions and saved 216 lives.