Evening star., 1940-10-26
Nazi Raiders Strike
7 Times al London;
Alarms Are Brief
Planes Are Sent Over at
Intervals of Hour to
go Minutes

intervals or 10ur 10
go Minutes
| By the Associated Press.
: LONDON, Oct. 26.-Air raid sirens
signaled seven daylight air raids on
London today as axis flyers struck
at intervals of an hour to 80 min
utes, starting at daybreak.
At least six persons were killed
by bomb which wrecked an apart
ment house and grocery. Many were
buried under the debris and relea sed
only after A. R. P. workers and VOL
unteers dug into the wreckage.
None of the days first alarms last
ed long.
/ Bombs dropped in the fourth
alarm exploded in the central city
district. One fell into a shopping
crowd. Two shops were damaged.
One hundred twenty persons
crawled out OF one damaged air raid
shelter through an emergency exit.
! They were unharmed.
Reports from the southeast said
a German plane machine-gunned a
coastal town, and dropped several
/ bombs.
Visibility across the Strait Of Do
yer was described as the best since
the war began, with every detail of
the opposite shore clearly visible
The sea was choppy, with a cold,
northwest wind blowing.
Fierce Night Raid.
The series Of rapid-fire day at
tacks followed a fierce night raid
! in which British defenses were said
| by unofficial sources to have func-
toned with new-found efficiency.
The British were credited with
shooting down eight Nazi night
bombers. and the London Standard
said anti-aircraft fire and fighter
squadrons had given the Germans
the most devastating reverse yet
suffered in their night attacks
With the hours of darkness length
ening, the overnight attack, which
started with blitz fury and dwindled
into fitful gunfire shortly before
daybreak, was one of the longest of
the war for London.
London had three separate alarms
before noon. One at daybreak and
another in midmorning lasted only
a few minutes each. The third came
just before noon and one heavy ex-
plosion was heard before the sirens
sounded.
Planes Hit Midlands.
AS the pre-daWn assault fizzled
out over London, waves of war
planes hit hard through wintry
storm winds at the industrially i'm
portant Midlands, the big naval base
of Rosyth, in the Firth of Forth,
and Liverpool, on the Mersey River
| Meanwhile, coastal guns on both
sides of the Strait of Dover hurled
tons of steel -jacketed explosives
across the English Channel. The
overnight shelling was the longest
and heaviest of the battle of Britain
Airmen from bases on both sides
took part in the cross channel duel
which was touched of by the she'll
ing of conveys.
The British flyers extended their
bombings into a new pre-dawn bat
tering Of ports along the Nazi-held
French coast, lighting the sky with
the orange glow of fires visible many
miles.
An Air Ministry communique said
the R. A. F. also attacked German
naval bases and oil supplies in
Northern and Central Germany and
air bases in German-occupied ter
ritory.
The long-range shelling began
yesterday afternoon when British
gunners fired on a small Nazi con-
voy In the English Channel. Ger
man guns fired back at the Dover
area.
Later. the Germans opened fire on
British convoy slipping through
the strait and sent over bombers
which dived repeatedly through an
ti-aircraft fire at barrage balloons
guarding the ships.
| The British countered with a bonn
bardment of the German gun po-
sitionS, then sent over R. A. F.
squadrons for a more extensive as
sault
Raiders Forced High Up.
The attack on the Rosyth naval
base was the heaviest since Octo-
ber 16, 1899. The raid on the base
then-six weeks after the declara-
ton of war-Was the first attack
against British soil from the air
British reports said the Rosyth
raiders were held at great height by
heavy anti-aircraft fire, and that
two Of the Nazi planes were believed
hit.
Altogether, attacks on Scotland
were said to have been more wide
spread than usual. Three districts
we're machine-gunned and bombed.
Several small coastal towns were
attacked, but casualties were re-
ported as few.
At Liverpool, church, school,
street car and homes were said to
have been hit.
A government communique de-