The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 5

THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1940 BOMB'S HAVOC IN CROWDED FUBLIC SHELTER Fell Down Ventilating Shaft MOTHERS AND CHILDREN AMONG THE CASUALTIES LONDON BOMBED AGAIN LAST NIGHT Attacks on Smaller Scale 99 NAZIS DOWN IN SATURDAY'S INDISCRIMINATE RAIDS Dock Fires Port Work Goes On GOERING IN PERSONAL CHARGE OF CAMPAIGN OVER LONDON AGAIN Last Night's Raids MORE BOMBS ON A WIDE AREA German raiders were again over a wide area of London last night, and bombs were still dropping this morning six and a half hours after the attacks started. It is believed, however, that casualties were comparatively few. Immediately after the warning or.s of the heaviest anti-aircraft bombardments in the area since the raids began started in one outer district. Windows and doors were shaken by the gunfire. Within a few seconds of the alarm violent anti-aircraft fire broke out in Central London.

This was followed by the sound of a screaming bomb and an explosion. Almost simultaneously with the warning heavy explosions were heard at many points in the London area. The drone of 'planes was heard overhead and the inner London defences joined in the barrage of the outer districts. The noise was deafening. A reporter looking from a roof-top said that bomb flashes and the pattern of A.A.

fire could be seen in the gathering dusk. CHANNEL PORTS BOMBED Fires at Boulogne MORE DAMAGE TO KRUPP WORKS Enemy shipping in the occupied Channel ports was heavily attacked by the R.AJ1. during Saturday night Gun emplacements and searchlight -batteries in the Calais region were also bombed. Among other targets were, once again, the Krupp works at Essen and war materials hidden in the Black Forest. An Air Ministry communique says Determined attacks on enemy shipping in the occupied Channel ports were pressed home by our bomber squadrons last night Saturday in spite of poor visibility and vigorous detences.

At Calais bombs burst between the basin and the entrance to the harbour. At Boulogne fires were started and bombs fell on the Loubet Basin. Direct hits were made on barges in harbour at Ostend and more barge concentrations were heavily attacked at Dunkirk. Crossing the coast, other bomber squadrons attacked Krupp's works at Essen, war factories at Emden and ZweibrQcken, and the oil plant at Gel-senkirchen. Fires and explosions followed bombing attacks on rail depots at Mannheim, Ehrang, and Hamm.

In the Black Forest further attacks were made on war materials stored in the woods, and great fires were started. Gun emplacements and searchlight batteries near Calais were bombed, and in an attack on Colmar Aerodrome bombs fell through the roof of a hangar and flames bursting through the doors fired aircraft outside. Other aerodromes attacked were Gilze-Rijen. Wesel, and Kreleld. in Germany, Brussels, in Belgium, Quer- queville, in France, and Soesterburg and Eindhoven, in Holland.

From these widespread operations all our aircraft returned. "NEW TYPE OF BOMB The German News Agency declares that in these raids bombers were prevented from reaching Berlin owing to the changed position of our antiaircraft guns, the new dispersal of the balloon barrage in the Ruhr, and the increased employment of German night fighters." The agency adds, "It is indeed remarkable that after the gigantic attack by many hundreds of German bombers on London not one single British 'plane attempted to push forward to the German capital." The agency (quoted by Reuter) also says. Reliable quarters report that the British raiders were loaded with a new type of bomb." The German-controlled Dutch wireless says that British bombs were dropped on Saturday night in the Dutch Province of North Brabant and that the cable of the provincial electric LONDON'S NIGHT OF FIRES The Two Attacks BRAVERY OF A.R.P. WORKERS There were two separate attacks on London on Saturday. The first, starting at 4 57 in the afternoon, lasted eighty-nine minutes.

The second lasted most of the night, for eight hours and seventeen minutes. It is believed that in all some 500 enemy aircraft were used. In addition to the fires started in the docks area there was damage to industrial premises, some dislocation of communications was caused, bombs fell on a theatre, a greyhound track, and several stores, and lighting and some public services were affected for a time. But most of the bombs fell on houses in the congested working-class districts of the East End. The most impressive thing about the raids was the bravery and efficiency of the civil defence workers, men and women alike.

Fire-brigades and A.F.S. men fought the fires as German 'planes hovered above them, sometimes attempting to drop more bombs into the centre of the fires. A.R.P. workers were killed or injured at their posts, but communications were maintained. Labourers filled bomb craters while other bombs dropped near.

Water and gas pipes were repaired, telephone and telegraph lines restored. As dawn broke yesterday smoke still hung over London and the hiss of water pouring on to fires in the East End was heard above the Sunday morning quiet. THE FIRST ATTACK I watched both the Saturday attacks from the roof of the Press Association building (writes a Press Association reporter). The first bombers came in the early evening, riding in--waves high above the barrage balloons in an azure blue sky which in a few minutes was filled with bursting shells, darting, 'planes, and falling bombs. The air was filled with mingled sounds, rising above all the whine of K.A.F.

fighters, which dived into massed formations of 50 German 'planes and scattered them. As one wave of attackers was broken up another charged in, wheeled, and fled with fighters, streaking in pursuit. That raid was smashed by the fighters and the guns, but over East London hung a huge pall of smoke and on the outskirts thin columns of white smoke streamed up, some from wrecked German bombers. As darkness fell the raiders came example. They had been enjoying a temporary respite from arduous duty.

Air Warden Sales said, "The A.F.S. man ought to get a medal. He flung off his tunic, organised everyone who was unhurt, whether in uniform or not, and did not give anyoody time for panic. He seemed to know exactly what to do and what to say, and it was largely owing to his command that all the dead and wounded were cleared out of the shelter in about twenty minutes." The fireman was Mr. H.

Beare, an ex-soldier. A reporter found him searching about for a purse which his wife had lost in the wreckage. I am not so much bothered about the money inside it as the ration cards," he said. 1 rushed to the shelter to see if my wife was all right. After that I only did what anybody else would have done.

I forced a gangway among the people and just told everybody who was in a position to help to get down to it. The policeman I don't know his name was splendid and set a grand example." A.R.P. Messenger Amey, on duty in the shelter, was knocked off his feet by the impact. "We could hear explosions over the district while we were laying out the dead and injured he said. The whole scene was illuminated by.

the fire, but nobody seemed to take any notice of his own risk, especially the doctors." The casualties include A.R.P. workers, one of whom was temporarily blinded by the flash and suffered shock. SAVED BY HELMET Another A.R.P. worker had a remarkable escape when a piece of shrapnel struck his steel helmet and flung it, crumpled up, yards away. He was unhurt.

A young soldier, just home on leave, was killed outright. In view of the large numbers in the shelter A.R.P. workers consider that the toll was very small. It is thought the same raider unloaded several bombs over this area. The roof was torn from a church, another bomb glanced off the top of a block of flats, leaving the walls overhanging into the street, and business uremises were Some 400 people were killed and 1,300 to 1,400 seriously injured in mass air raids on the London area which began in daylight on Saturday and were continued throughout the night.

The first attack was directed against the docks, where fires were started which guided the later raiders. In the second attack, after dark, the bombing became indiscriminate, and working-class houses in the East End suffered the most. Last night there was another bombing attack spread over a wide area of London, hut this time there were no big concentrations of planes and the casualties were comparatively few. Earlier in the day there had been a minor raid on the Thames Estuary, when many of the fires in the London dockside area were still burning, but localised. Saturday's attacks cost the Germans 99 planes, of which 21 fell to A.A.

fire. Twenty-two British fighters were lost, but nine pilots are safe. These final figures were announced last night. Scale of the Damage It should be recognised that while the damage done in Saturday's raids may be judged from the local view-point as fairly severe it must not be regarded as serious when looked at against the general background of the war, the more so since we had been prepared for far more severe damage ever since the war broke out. An official of the Port of London Authority stated last night: While damage by fire at the docks is considerable, discharging and loading berths are intact, and all services of the port will be maintained.

Though some warehouses have been damaged, the losses of foodstuffs are relatively small." An outstanding feature of the raids was the gallantry and efficiency of the A.F.S. and A.R.P. services, men and women. Goering in Command Field Marshal Goring announced in a broadcast speech yesterday that Hitler had entrusted him with the task of attacking the "heart of the British Empire." He said that from where he was (presumably his headquarters in Northern France) he could see waves of 'planes headed for England. The German News Agency spoke yesterday of the great sacrifices which had to be made in the attacks on London, which were described as reprisals for R.A.F.

raids on Berlin. The agency added that London will be bombed with millions of pounds of bombs so long as night attacks on non-military objectives by British airmen continue." A SMALLER SCALE It was evident that the Nazi airmen were using the smouldering fires of Saturday's raids to guide them, for the attacks were directed at the same area London's dockland. In the first hour the attack was considerably less for midable than Saturday's raid fewer 'planes were penetrating the intense defensive barrage from the coast to London. At the end of an hour there was a lull. If enemy 'planes were still flying they must have been very high Bombing ceased.

Ten minutes passed. Then the whole of London's defence barrage broke into action again. Reverberations were heard and vivid flashes were seen as the 'planes dropped their bombs. Every now and then the gunfire and searchlights would creep nearer to the Thames until the drone of an enemv machine could be heard. From the searchlight and anti-aircraft activity the raiders appeared to be flying in a wide i-uue auu axupping oomos at intervals.

As the gunhre crept near to the river civilians sought refuge in Embankment sneiters, out otners stood watching even when enemy 'planes were heard overneaa. Several screaming bombs fell after nnp raider over London had dropped a flare. Expert observers stated after thp raid had been going on for nearly three hours that there were no large concentrations of enemy bombers. They were operat ing ones ana twos, aropping bombs uucasionauy. Showers of burning wreckage were flung skyward by one bomb.

Roof watchers saw what was believed to be a barrage balloon fall in flamec Two incendiary bombs which fell in a sireei near a station were put out by wardens. NURSES' HOME HIT High-explosive bombs were still dropping in the London area this morning some hours after the raid started. No casualties were sufferpH when a high-explosive bomb hit the nurses home of an East London hospital. The staff and nurses were in the basement shelter. The hospital itseii was undamaged except for broken windows.

A dozen people, including several women, were sheltering in the basement of a garage in a London area when an incendiary bomb drODDed on thp rnnf Mn nna' iiuit ana the npnnlo wor vjuuvcu iu a neighbouring shelter. Firemen quickly uui hhs names, oome nouses were set on fire by incendiary bombs in this oicd Two screaming bombs demolished houses and a third made a large crater in a road. MORE FIRES Early to-day high-explosive and incendiary bombs were still being dropped by enemy aircraft, which appeared to be cruising in utiHo -i London area. Several new fires were caused. At times the raiders appeared iu ny very low.

THE NORTH-WEST Raiders were also over a Southwestern district, and about midnight it was reported that enemy 'planes were over a North-western town. Other raiders were reported over a South-east inland town and over Wales. A lone German bomber was picked up by searchlights as it passed over a Rnnth-finct Pnncf num A A m.c .......4. HO. WCJilr into action and tracer shells streamed past xne wings or tne bomber, which was flying at less than 1,000 feet.

Several bombs exploded in the sea. Home Guards opened fire with rifles, and the bomber climbed quickly out of range and headed inland. R.A.F.'s ATTACK ON FRENCH COAST The Royal Air Force was again attacking German aerodromes and! other military objectives on the French coast last night. Vivid flashes could be seen across the Channel Children sleeping in perambulators and mothers with babies in their arms were killed when a bomb exploded on a crowded shelter in an East London district during SaturdAy night's raids. By what is described as "a million-to-one chance" the bomb fell directly on to a ventilator shaft measuring only about three feet by one foot.

It was the only vulnerable place in a powerfully protected underground shelter accommodating over people. The rest of the rotf is well protected by three feet of brickwork, earth, and other defences, but over the ventilator shaft there were only corrugated iron sheets. The bomb fell just as scores of families were settling down in the shelter to sleep there for the night. Three or four roof-support pillars were torn down and about fourteen people were killed and some forty injured. In one family three children were killed, but their parents escaped.

FEARLESS RESCUE WORKERS Although explosions could be heard in all directions and the scene was illuminated by the glow of the East End fires civil defence workers laboured fearlessly among the wreckage seeking the wounded, carrying them to safer places, and attending to their wounds before the ambulances arrived. Nine doctors answered an S.O.S. and saved lives by improvising tourniquets. They dressed wounds by the dim glow of torches. This shelter had been used by families night afte- night since the air war on London started.

They had taken their beds down into it, had sung songs, held impromptu parties, made new friends, and met adversity in the true East End spirit. A.R.P. and A.i workers said that in spite of it all there was no panic. The women were magnificent," was the comment on all sides. Two men j.

policeman and an auxiliary fireman set an outstanding TWO HOSPITAL Two wards were wrecked and there were some casualties, including a 14-year-old child and two nurses, when a London hospital was hit in the earliest of Saturday evening's raids. Rescue parties continued to work amid piles of wreckage well into the danger period of the second raid. Right until the last minute they worked underneath walls which might have crashed at the slightest vibration," said an official. They showed marvellous bravery, keeping on until bomb detonations and gunfire made it absolutely impossible." Meanwhile in dressing-rooms and wards only a few yards away from the crater doctors were dressing the wounds of those injured in the hospital and in the streets near by. As soon as possible arrangements were made to evacuate patients.

The bomb wrecked two wards and a corridor and many of the nurses lost all their possessions. They, too, continued working in the danger zone until the last minute. The whole staff are beyond praise," said the matron. Doctors in their white overalls edged their way among the rescue workers to administer morphia to badly injured cases. One young nurse was buried for three hours, but was brought out virtually unhurt.

She insisted on taking her place with the other nurses afterwards. Two bombs were dropped on another London hospital. One fell on the parapet of the building at the side of the entrance to the out-patients' department, and the strong stonework was scarcely damaged except for pitting by fragments. Many windows were broken and doors and other woodwork were damaged. The second bomb fell on a coal dump and started a Are, which was quickly mastered by the hospital fire squad.

Almost the whole of the patients and staff were safe in basement shelters when the bombs fell. A stretcher-bearer had his hand cut and another assistant also received slight injury. SHELTER'S SHAKEN It is estimated that nearly seventy bombs of all calibres, including incendiaries, were dropped in three South-east London districts. About xweniy-nve working-class homes were badly damaged, fronts of shops were blown out, and electrical power was cut off. The shock of the explosion in some cases was so severe that underground shelters shook.

On the whole there were few casualties. In one area the mayor and mayoress were in a shelter looking after about 500 residents. The mayor called for volunteers among the able-bodied menfolk the shelter and assisted injured persons into safofv although standing up well to the vFiuoiun5, were partly Duried. DAMAGE TO ECTORY A ring of incendiary bombs on the mam shopping centre of one district Bj A.A. brute HmUdu ion.

puota lrt. 137 79 3 1 I i 4 2 81 1 2 2 10 6 1 1 1 1 .5 15 12 "i 2 1 21 AM 19 13 15 14 9 25 37 15 20 15 17 20 19 22 7 9 4 2 10 11 6 8 7 5 11 7 13 "lib Two of 407 in period Autuit 30 8stcmb 5. been credited to flfhttw. OFFICIAL STORY OF THE RAIDS The following Air Ministry and Ministry of Home Security communiques, issued yesterday, tell the official story of the attacks on London: I wrecked. WARDS WRECKED started several fires and damaged houses and buildings.

Houses were demolished near one of the entrance-gates to a factory employing several thousand people. A number of bombs were dropped, and inside the factory a good deal of damage was caused. It is suggested that a train was followed to its destination by about 50 bombers and fighters. A salvo of bombs were dropped on some productive buildings. Men and women workers were trapped in a shelter and were extricated after about an hour's work.

The offices were also hit and water began to pour into some of the premises. In other parts of the factory the damage was rather serious, but the main supply sources were virtually untouched. Yesterday morning, after the raiders had passed and the all-clear signal given, immediate steps were taken at the factories to resume work in those departments not seriously affected. Output will not be seriously hindered. High-explosive bombs fell in two South-east London areas, where the damage, although affecting a number of houses, is not regarded as serious.

No important buildings were touched. A branch of a commercial college carried on in an eld mansion was struck by a high-explosive bomb and wrecked. In. a private road near a park about 100 yards away another high-explosive bomb made a crater fifteen feet deep. An old people's home in which there were about a dozen inmates escaped.

The bombs appeared to have dropped indiscriminately, houses being demolished in quiet roads far from any public or important buildings. Bombs directed at a power station did slight damage. One fell in a heap of coal and another struck a coal truck. No signs of the damage could be seen from neighbouring roads and the station continues to operate. Half a mile away one of the new-type bombs a canister of oil containing an incendiary bomb hit a Roman Catholic church and started a fire.

About a mile or so from this church a chapel was demolished and a man passing was injured. Another bomb wrecked a public-house, while another caused several casualties, some fatal, in a brick shelter. In one South-west London district the tram service was disorganised when a high-explosive bomb fell on the track. WEST LONDON DAMAGE A West London district had a good share of the German night bombing. Some damage was done to property, but there were few casualties.

A building with a large expanse of roof escaped a direct hit. but another in the rear was partially destroyed. Other parts of the district suffered from incendiary bombs. A bomb fell on a corner house, which was demolished, and a woman and two children hurrying to the basement shelter were buried in wreckage. Directly opposite this house is a church which, apart from the smashed clock above the entrance, suffered only slight damage to the lattice windows.

The morning service was held as usual yesterday. The occupants of another house had a remarkable escape. The upper floors were demolished and a woman who was having a bath escaped with a few scratches. Her maid received facial injuries from splintered glass. BOMB IN FRONT OF BUS A bomb fell immediately in front of a crowded 'bus during the second raid and many passengers were injured by flying glass.

When two bombs fell in a London area one crashed in the roadway and fractured a gas main. The second demolished a house. There was hardly a pane of glass in one road, and burglar alarms in shops, set in operation by the concussion of bombs, rang for many hours. A furniture factory was burned out. It is understood that a few people were killed and more injured, some of them critically, when a bomb fell in one street.

In spite of the air-raid warning there were many people not taking cover but trying to get home when the bomb fell. A number of League football matches in the London area were played with the droning of bombers overhead, the bark of anti-aircraft gunfire, and the whine of British fighters as an accompaniment. The teams in most cases played on to the finish. networK was nit ana put out of action. SEARCHING THE WRECKAGE After the Raid From oar London Staff London, Sunday.

Twenty-four hours after the outbreak, although the fire itself had been under control for some time, its outposts, corner-points, and bastions were still engaging the attention of firemen and military. At one point a pillar of smoke signalled recalcitrance for miles it was a handsome pillar, the deep, sober grey of a parson's lounge suit, the smoke keeping itself to itself, curling upwards in cauliflower baroque, not dissipating itself into the air. Its lower part was shot through with orange flames. To get to the pillar 'of smoke one had driven through miles of East End streets, for here and there one had to make detours where the main roads were shut. Coming in the opposite direction were the refugees hot, tired women hugging feather beds, men with sacks on their backs, and tidy little families, each with a home in a suitcase.

In the streets off the main thoroughfares there were the homes they had come from, a house here and a house there blotted out of a row as a rotten tooth is pulled out from the sound ones. But these had not been rotten homes. There are snug little streets down here and sordid little streets the homes had gone indiscriminately. One street is neat and clean, lined with plane trees. The inhabitants preserved an air of genteel unconcern.

Round the corner is a street of Chinese shops and bedraggled houses. Posters on the wall are in Chinese characters. 1 One house had gone here, and a crowd had gathered to watch the police and the firemen search the ruins. The civilians were kept outside barriers, but there was one middle-aged woman inside. She looked tired and worried and red-eyed.

She was pointing to various parts of the heap of rubble that had been a home and saying to the firemen, "No, not there. There, under the stairs, near where the bike was.i' The policeman I was with said, "It's her daughter. We've been looking for hours. And there are four Chinese we're after, too." On the pavement near by was a little heap of clockwork trains and toy railway lines which someone had saved and heaped efficiently together. There was a twisted green bird cage, too, and by it a dead canary.

CHURCH BELLS CAUSE ALARM There is mystery over the ringing for a considerable time of the, church Dells in a Welsh coast parish on Saturday night. Police and other authorities say they cannot account fcr it, but there-was much activity on the part of the A.R.P. and other Home Defence services. Many people feared that the ringing of the church bells had some relation to an invasion. This was absolutely ground-Jess.

During the air raid on Saturday night in the North-east area the church bells were also rung. All Home Guards in a South-west tfflim UMU saTlari rtllf aVimii w. Saturday night Some were called by www.cacab iii we Bireeis ana omers by messengers. In a residential suburb church bells' were rung. Roads were cleared of all civilian traffic and all people travelling through the nilht were stopped and again to a blacked-out London soon lit up by the glow of fires.

They came in from" different directions, one at a time, and dropped their bombs as close as possible to where the fires were burning. Terrific crashes started rolling echoes, and the roof on which I was standing seemed bathed in waves of light when heavy guns in Inner London opened fire. The first group of attackers passed and on the horizon tiny red points grew into fierce fires. After some hours the sight was almost terrifying in its grandeur. Against the night sky rose a vivid orange curtain topped by great smoke clouds through which searchlights groped and flickered.

At one time there was a series of heavy crashes, and bomb explosions could be felt in even deep shelters, yet the damage was on nothing like the scale expected of a German terroristic raid, and the fires were tackled with extraordinary speed and efficiency. As dawn was adding green and purple streaks to the eastern sky the raiders departed, and with the wail of the all clear" the streets awoke and traffic flowed again. THAMES ESTUARY ATTACK German bombers again tried for six or seven hours during the night to bomb objectives in the Thames Estuary district that they had reached in the evening raid. They showered down thousands of incendiary bombs and scores of high explosives, but started only one or two small fires, and the results of the attack were negligible. During attempts to quell one fire where tanks of oil were blazing firemen were trapped by wreckage.

At the risk of their lives other firemen went to the rescue, and though some men were burned all were saved. TRAIN MACHINE-GUNNED Two single-engined fighters attacked a train on its way to London on Saturday. The 'planes dived to about sixty feet and machine-gunned the train, which continued its journey. As far as is known there were no casualties. AN EAST END TOUR The Sunday Joint in Spite of AlP A reporter who yesterday toured the damaged areas in the East End of London writes: I saw nothing to show that the raids had daunted the spirit of the East End.

Women went on preparing their Sunday dinners, even though they had no water or gas. They borrowed water from neighbours and lit fires to roast their joints. One of them, who had spent the night in an air-raid shelter which rocked with every concussion, was preparing her meal in a house where the dividing wall between dining-room and' drawing-room lay in chunks across the floors. In a dockland tavern where every window had been blown out bv a bomb which fell across the road they were collecting for a Spitfire fund. Everywhere there were stories of neighbourly charity in the midst of adversity.

In some streets neighbours were already making a whip-round for families who had lost their belongings in the damage. Other people took care of children whose parents werenead or injured and made long journeys across London to escort them to the homes of relatives. At least four German bombers were shot down in the dock area A huge crater near one ot the dock gates and a church with its spire blown off and the nave destroyed by fire showed two near misses. Much of the damage in the dock area was to houses, shops, churches, and schools. The afternoon's bombing was fairly accurate, but.

at night the raiders scattered bombs anywhere near the glow caused by fires. Communal feeding centres are hard at work, and rescue parties are salving what they can from the wrecked houses. Other air nerwe on pago 2 and 9, and la Onr London Con uudtmcal very heavy task upon the fire service, many of whom carried 'on their work under bombardment. In Great Britain outside the London area the only report of major damage comes from an oil installation on the Lower Thames, where a large fire was caused. These attacks much exceeded in scale any that have preceded them, and heavy casualties have been incurred.

In view of the number of incidents, many or a minor character, which occurrec during the night, any casualty figures given now must be regarded as approximate. A further statement will be made as soon as possible. It is provisionally estimated that about 400 people have been killed and some thirteen to fourteen hundred seriously injured As was expected, there is evidence from all areas of the high courage and resolution with which the civil population have accepted this challenge. Evening. Since dawn this morning enemy activity had been negligible until shortly before midday, when a large force of enemy aircraft approached the coast north of Dover.

They were promptly engaged by our fighters and A.A. guns, and only small formations were able to penetrate inland. These flew north to the Thames Estuary, where they were dispersed and driven off. Reports so far received show that though bombs were dropped they fell mostly in rural areas and did little damage! In Kent some houses and a railway station were hit and a road temporarily blocked. There was a small number of casualties, but only one person was killed.

Night Reports so far received show that eight enemy aircraft have been destroyed to-day, three of them being shot down by one Thames Estuary battery and five by our fighters. Three of our aircraft are missing, but one of the pilots is known to be safe. Morn in sr. Further particulars may now be given of the heavy attacks directed on London by the enemy during yesterday evenins and continued on a smaller scale throughout the night. Bombing was widespread, and in the later part of the attack appeared to be indiscriminate.

Damage was severe, but judged against the background of the war is not serious. The major weight of the enemy's offensive was concentra'ed on both banks of the Thames east of the City, especially on the riverside, where three extensive fires and a number cf others were caused. Much damage was done and a number of persons were rendered temporarily homeless, but were successfully removed from the danger area, and immediate steps were taken to provide them with food and shelter. Bombs also fell on a utility plant in this area ana some of the services were seriously interfered with. Many bombs were dropped in the docks of the Port of London Authority and large fire was caused in the docks south of the river.

Elsewhere some warehouses were damaged and several barges were set on fire. The attacks in other parts of London were not comparable in magnitude, but many bombs were dropped. In South London two schools were seriously damaged. A fire was caused ir. Central London and houses were demolished in various districts.

Throughout all these areas the civil defence services are speedily and successfully dealing with the tasks imposed upon them, which have included the evacuation of several hundred civilians from one area renderea dangerous by fire assisting to resU re road and rail communications, which suffered considerable interruption, although trunk lines have been seriously affected; and, more particularly, fire-fighting, which has Imposed a BOMB ON STATION: Some dislocation in transport occurred as a result of Saturday night's air raids, particularly in the area south and east of London, the Ministry ot Transport stated yesterday. Steps were taken to restore the damage as quickly as possible, and as a temporary measure alternative routes are being worked and special bus services were arranged. The widest possible flexibility in the use of season and ordinary tickets has been ordered. LOSSES IN AIR FIGHTING OVER BRITAIN FoUowing are details of the 'plants destroyed since mass air raids on this country started on August 11 GDMAN ToUL August 11-18 045 August 19......... 6 August 20 7 August 21 13 August 22 10 August 23 4 August 24 SO August 25 55 August 26 47 August 27 4 August 28 28 August 29 11 August 30 83 August 31 88 September 1 25 September 2 55 5S4 5 7 13 8 2 40 40 46 3 27 10 58 73 25 43 25 52 37 45 78 September 3 septemDer 4 September 5 September 8 September 7 54 30 48 Total 1,374 1,210 Hot taelufilng 35 uWlUonri A.A.

juccnm tbew but prwlotuly BUSES DAMAGED In a later statement the Ministry announced that the situation had shown marked improvement during the day. Some interference with tail services was caused at a London station by a bomb. The force of the explosion shook houses In the district. Two buses were damaged and their windows shattered by bombs falling near them. In one a passenger was killed and a number of others were injured..