Evening star., 1940-09-14


In London at 6:F pm.
BY the Associated Press.
LONDON, Sept. l4.-German
raiders twice dropped bombs in the
London area today, carrying on their
long campaign of attrition, while
neutral military sources declared
that the next 4S hours lis a period
Of intense danger of invasion to
Britain"
Three times up to late afternoon
the city,s afraid sirens sounded,
the third all-clear coming at sos
pm.
There was no specific indication
as to damage, but it appeared to be
light. Much of the Nazi's aerial &C
tivity seemed intended to test Brit
aims coastal defenses.
The Royal Air Force, meanwhile.
went on with its urgent assignment:
to smash the bases from which the
Nazis might be expected to launch
their Invasion attempt across the
Channel.
Bombers Attack Barges.
The Air Ministry said British
bombers in strong force last night
attacked German shipping in har-
bors and docks on the French and
Belgian coasts, adding that barge
concentra tions were wrecked and
dock facilities set af1ame at Bou-
logne, Calais, Dunkerque. Ostend
and Antwerp. The bombing of
barges near Rotterdam also was re-
ported.
Weather conditions in the Chan
mel were described as slightly less
favorable for sea-borne invasion
than for some time A stiff breeze
was blowing and there was mist
over the French coast.
While the army, navy and r. A. F.
stood prepared to 'repel boarders'
on Britain's coast and air fields, the
Postmaster General announced
that, due to heavy pressure on tele-
graph and telephone services, the
public had been asked to use them
for urgent messages only.
The announcement made no men,
ton of any damage done to these
facilities by the German bombings.
Armed patrols of police and the
Home Guard turned out at one
southeast coast town last night and
searched riverside wharves and rail-
road sidings following reports that
six parachutes were seen descend
ing in that direction. They failed
to find any evidence to support the
reports.
Bombs Rained Last Night.
High flying bombers rained high
explosive and incendiary bombs on
the Southeast and Western areas of
the capital last night despite in
tense anti-aircraft fire.
Although attacks on central Lon
don were comparatively light, the
Germans struck repeatedly at OBJ
jectives in the other districts for
eight hours and 25 minutes, guided
to their targets by bright moon
light.
Londoners were driven to shelter
by the new alarms, but neither gun
fire nor planes were heard over the
city. An alarm at 9:26 am. lasted
five minutes and the second at
1l:01 am. ended in Is minutes In
between, however, eXplosions-either
of bombs or anti-aircraft fire-were
heard in the London area.
A government communique ac-
knowledged that fires were started
at various points in the city during
the night raid, but said that all
of them either had been eXtin-
guished or brought under control
One German plane was reported
shot down after being caught in a
web of searchlights over East Lon
don.
The all-clear signals sounded the
end of the night alarm at SIS am
The morning newspapers declared
essential services still were carrying
on-'limping little in some places -
the NeWs-Chronicle said-and as
serted that seven consecutive nights
in air raid shelters had failed to
shake Londoners morale.
New Blast at Buckingham.
A time bomb, presumably dropped
yesterday when five other missiles
fell on Buckingham Palace and its
grounds, exploded today in front of
the palace, demolishing huge gate
t. post and a section of iron fencing.
Meanwhile, the threat of delayed
action bombs remained eVer-preSent.
Five unexploded bombs still lay in
the vicinity of st. Pauls Cathedral
which was closely guarded.
Raids also were reported in other
parts of the United Kingdom Early
this morning lone plane attacked
Welsh town and four persons were
(See LONDON, Page A-3.>