WRECKAGE IN LONDON

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21244, 15 October 1940, Page 5

WRECKAGE IN LONDON

EFFECT OF NAZI RAIDS HOUSES DESTROYED MANY PEOPLE KILLED HOSPITAL HIT BY BOMB PATIENTS EVACUATED (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received Oct. 15, 11 a.m.) LONDON, October 14. During last night’s raids on London an oil bomb destroyed parts of a hospital, including the operating theatre. The staff put out the flames. The patients were all evacuated. Today an explosive bomb fell in the grounds of the same hospital, and demolished three houses, the occupants of which were sheltering and were not injured. A bomb, striking the middle of a block of flats, killed a number of tenants who were sheltering in the basement, on which tons of debris crashed. Flats on either side were cut in half. Mobile cranes were used in recovering the bodies. Bombs hit a row of cottages in the home counties area. Two people were killed and thirteen injured. A Salvation Army citadel in the London area was wrecked last night. A London public-house was bombed last night. The majority of the people killed or injured were in the public bar. Rescuers, hampered by escaping gas, worked all night extricating the victims. Five thousand members of the Pioneer Corps set out this morning to clear up the London air raid wreckage.

Heavy Gunfire In London Heavy gunfire was heard in the London district during the first “Alert” signal today. The anti-aircraft defences went into action against a large fourengined bomber which was seen high over a London suburb. The raider was dropping bombs as it dived. It was reported later to have crashed in open ground. Isolated bombers attacked towns in the Thames Estuary, the Midlands ! and the home counties this after- j noon, demolishing business premises | and houses and causing some casualties. A plane attacking a Thames I Estuary town caught hundreds of • shoppers napping and dropped five ! bombs in residential districts, de- i molishing five houses and burying many residents. Attacks by Single Aircraft A communique issued by the i Ministry of Home Security states: I Enemy activity over Britain has been ; on a comparatively small scale to- ' day, being confined to a series lof j attacks by single aircraft, which [ dropped a few bombs at a number j of points in the south of England and j the Midlands. Reports received up to 5 p.m., in- . dicate that casualties have been few, but a small number of persons has been killed. Some houses and shops were damaged in one town in Kent. Elsewhere the damage has been slight. Scottish Families Forced Out Five bombs fell on a Wes*t of Scotland town this morning, three of which were of the delayed-action type, necessitating the evacuation of 200 families from their homes. There were no casualties and little damage from other bombs. RAIDS ON LIVERPOOL SOME CASUALTIES REPORTED COMMUNAL SHELTERS HIT (United Press Asn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Oct. 14 German air raids on Britain on Sunday were largely concentrated on Liverpool, where anti-aircraft fire was the heaviest for seven weeks. There were some casualties there, and others in a south coast town were two communal shelters were hit. There was a night battle between German bombers and British fighters over East Anglia. GIFT BY WORKERS £20,000 FOR BOMBER MADE AT OWN WORKS (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyrignt) LONDON, Oct. 13 Workers and co-operators of a Vickers-Armstrong factory collected £20,000 for the presentation to the nation of a Wellington bomber which they are now constructing. The bomber will be named after the works, and all the contributors will be kept informed of the machine’s progress through the factory and after it has joined an operational unit. buried under debris RECEPTION OF RAIDERS HEAVY GUNFIRE MET (trilled Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyrignt; (Received Oct. 14, 1.36 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 13 Following one long and one short daylight "Alert” signals, groups of raiders over the capital tonight met -Ticavy gunfire. A number of persons was buried under the wreckage of three or lour houses when two bombs fell in a London district.

BRITISH FACTORIES GREAT RESULTS ACHIEVED NOT AFFECTED BY BOMBS MAINTENANCE OF OUTPUT (Official Wireless) • (Received Oct. 15. 11 a.m.) RUGBY, Oct. 14 The speed with which factories in ' the London area which had been bombed by German aircraft have reorganised production was illustrated in a sDeech at Lincoln today by Sir , Cecil Weir, an executive member of the Export Council of the Board of Trade. Speaking of a tour of London, where he visited plants, some of which had been struck as frequently as eight times by every type of bomb, Sir Cecil said:— “One would have expected disorganisation, chaos and confusion. Instead one found an extraordinary degree of normal production, and in one of the worst cases the drop in production, a large part of which was going for export, was less than 30 per cent, and the managing director assured me that within another week or two they would be fully up to the usual output. “Another manufacturer showed me photographs of his damaged factory, which had been struck in a vital spot by a 15001 b. bomb. In another vital spot it had been blasted by a landmine. When he looked at the damage the day after the attack his foreman said, ‘How long do you think it will be before we can get going?’ And he said optimistically, ‘About a month.’ In actual fact the plant was operating within 24 hours. “I lost 30 per cent production in the first week, 20 per cent in the second, and in the third was producing the full output, which was much more than was manufactured in pre-war days.” PROPERTY INSURANCE LEGISLATION IN BRITAIN COMPENSATION FOR LOSS FINANCIAL PAPER’S WARNING (Official Wireless) (Received Oct. 15, 1 p.m.) RUGBY, Oct. 14 Great interest is taken here in the expected publication this week of the Property Insurance Bill, under which, according to Mr Winston Churchill’s recent statement, “Everyone should be assured that compensation for the loss of home or place of business will be paid to him in one form or another at the end of the war, if not sooner, and, where the necessity arises in the intervening period, the means of carrying on will not be withheld.” The weekly press warmly welcomes the announcement, the Economist saying that the decision to allow insurance against risks to property is a very welcome change of mind, as reluctance to consider such a scheme before was based on muddied thinking, but adding a warning that the bill will obviously be a severe test of the skill of the drafters and it is of the utmost importance that the measure should be allowed adequate time for Parliamentary discussion. NAZI SHOCK TROOPS SERVICE IN AFRICA ASSISTANCE FOR ITALIANS /tailed Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. copyrignt) (Received Oct. 15. 11 a.m.) BERLIN, Oct. 14 German shock troops serving in Africa, attached to Marshal GraziII ani’s forces, are believed to be an experimental corps. Their object is to gain experience of operating in the tropics.