CARRYING ON

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21230, 28 September 1940, Page 9

CARRYING ON

BUSINESS IN LONDON

IN FRONT-LINE BATTLE

VERY LITTLE DISTURBANCE (Omclal Wireless) (Received Sept. 28, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 27 The speed with which London has accommodated itself to front-line battle experiences has deeply impressed foreign observers and the disturbance to business life is less pronounced than was anticipated. Some business premises have, of course, ■ been completely destroyed, but in others temporary repair of the damage has been undertaken and with a minimum of delay business is being continued. This is particularly noticeable in the case of the shopping centres which have been bombed and even in the muchbombed Oxford Street the business life is once again flowing strongly. Throughout the capital the public services which have become so much a part of our lives that their continuance passes almost unnoticed are being maintained. Trade as a whole laid its plans before the war and they have worked admirably. The arrangements in the uninterrupted operation of the milk distributing trade are a good example of what is occurring in other essential industries, not only in London but in the provincial towns which have been heavily attacked. Remarkable Feature A remarkable feature of the bombings is that not only is the loss of life less than was expected but the damage to buildings is less than was feared. This is disclosed in a Home Office leaflet on the protection of factories, which says: “It is generally imagined that in the case of a direct hit the building and occupants are doomed. This is not supported by the evidence obtained from the study of recent air raid damage. There have been many cases of light 50kilogram bombs detonating on the thin corrugated roofing of a singlestorey factory building with little damage other than to the roof covering and very slight casualties. “Similar bombs detonating on the floor of a shop remove the roof covering over a wide area but do surprisingly little damage to the machines. There is very little danger of serious structural damage from a near miss. Very heavy bombs of 500 kilograms, falling within 33 feet of a workshop with corrugated iron walls, did no more than strip sheeting from the steelwork. “There is evidence that in the case of multi-storey buildings, in which all the loads are carried by steel or reinforced concrete frames, the damage caused by even a direct hit will be local, confined in most cases to the floor and the part

DAMAGE AT NARVIK

ESTIMATED AT £22,000,000

CASUALTIES AND DESTRUCTION (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) STOCKHOLM, Sept. 26 The Swedish newspaper Summoersposten says the damage to the port and town of Narvik, including ships wrecked in the harbour, is estimated at £22,000,000. The Swedish iron ore company alone suffered to the extent of £7,250,000. Ninety-five houses were partly or wholly destroyed and 27 civilians were killed.