Evening star., 1940-12-22
Nozi Raid Leaves
Dead Children
Chtching Toys
YuIe TinseI MingIes
With Bodies of
London's Poor
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
LONDON. Dec. 21.-An unde-
termined number of Londoners
who had been holding parties
to celebrate the coming of
Christmas were killed tonight in
a tenement house smashed by a
German bomb.
In the street outside lay bits
of tinsel and a star from atop a
Christmas tree. Amidst the rub
BILE of furniture, bricks. children's
toys and Christmas decorations
lay bodies in their respectable
Sunday best"
Men and women who little
while before had been singing
carols and exchanging Christmas
puddings and candy stood dumb
ly about the ruins.
"It came like a hammer blow"
one man said. my wife and I
were out in the kitchen fixing
some food. Inside they were
singing God Rest Ye, Merrie
Gentlemen and laughing and
shouting. Suddenly We heard
that awful whoosh of falling
bomb. Thank God my kids are
with their grandmother in the
country
There's what's left of the
party" he said, with a gesture at
the broken homes.
Expected Light Night"
There had been parties all
around the district, some in air
raid shelters and others in homes.
When the sirens sounded most
of the people stayed in their
houses, believing it would be just
another light night"
Then they were dead on the
pavements or peering sadly into
wrecked homes. The wounded
had been taken to hospitals.
Children still clutched cheap toys
in the cold.
Firemen worked in the tene-
ment wreckage. There seemed
little hope that any one below
was alive-the bomb had been a
big one. AS they worked, pa
thetic mementoes of the party
were shoveled out into the street
"a bag of Christmas candies
and a red and white figure OF
Santa Claus.
There probably were $50 people
In the tenement at the time the
bomb fell. The number Of dead
cannot now be released.
German flyers had bombed a
London apartment house earlier
in the day, causing an unde-
termined number of casualties
there. AS they renewed the as
sault on the city tonight on this.
the longest night of winter, raid
ers were reported crossing the
southeast coast at great height in
at least two waves.
Nazi Attacks Widespread.
Liverpool and other Merseyside
towns were assaulted for the sec
ond successive night. The Nazi
air which followed by "a
hours heavy British raids upon
Berlin-extended from the Eng
lish Channel to the Irish Sea.
German planes darted over the
Liverpool area at the rate of one
a minute, beginning the attack
shortly after dark.
Earlier reports indicated that
working class districts suffered
heaviest, but after the raid had
been in progress for some time
and many bombs had been
dropped there had been no fatal
casualties, so far as could be
learned.
One public shelter was hit and
several people were taken to a
hospital. The raiders first
dropped flares and then high ex-
plosives.
Occasional bursts were heard
IN separated LOndOn areas, DuC
as the night wore on there was
a lull.
During the day three Nazi craft
were officially reported shot
down.
The most spectacular battle of
the day started nearly 7 miles
aloft and ended only so feet
above the Channel waters. A
Spitfire dived at German bomb
er, it was said, and, chasing it
over the water, caught it with a
machine gun burst. The bomber
crashed in flames, it was re-
ported.
Dig in Hotel Wreckage.
In Liverpool, hard hit in raids
of Friday night, men dug into
the wreckage of a bombed hotel
for victims Among those re-
ported killed there were several
f1remen who died in line of duty.
The government acknowledged
(See LONDON, Page A-40