Imperial Valley press., 1940-09-09
Germans Continue
MerciIess Raids
On City Of London
Continued from Page One

Continued from rage Ollel
in France, Belgium, Holland and
Germany itself.
Particularly heavy attacks were
made on shipping in the ports OF
Dunkirk and Boulogne. Other bomb
er units attacked German conveys
along the North Sea coast.
Last night the air ministry
said, despite severe weather con-
ditions on the continental coast
line strong forces of our bombers
carried out operations against enc
my and enemy occupied ports, barge
concentration and shipping, at Ham
burg, Bremen, Emden, Ostend. Cal
ais and Boulogne.
widespread damage was done to
oil tanks and ammunition stores.
Many fires were started"
Fires started at Hamburg were
visible 60 miles away
Time after time the royal air force
bombers circled through brilliant
beams of searchlights and intense
anti-aircraft fire, picked out their
targets in the vast dock area along
the banks of the Elbe river and
dumped salvos of bombs on them,
according to the air ministry COM
munique.
Fires broke out in many places,
including the big Blohm Voss yards,
and burned fiercely for hours, the
pilots reported as they returned
from a raid that was in retaliation
for Nazi attacks on the London
shipping center.
In Berlin, the high command ad-
mitted the attack by British bomb
ers in Hamburg, which has 100000
population, but said damage to mill
tary detectives was slight. Berlin
dispatches said the British also raid
ed Kiel and Lueneburg districts,
dropping bombs "aimlessly". The
Germans said that about 30 British
bombers attempted to reach Ber-
lin but we're repulsed.
British pilots, returning from the
raid on Germany, said they had
seen repeated salvos of bombs strike
the Hamburg dock area and that
fires were raging as they departed.
The German bombing of the Lon
don and southeast districts of Eng
land-directed by Reich Marshal
Hermann Goering on the French
coast-was regarded as an attempt
to crumble British defenses, espe-
cially in the air, before an attempt
ed invasion.
The air alarm lasted an hour and
is minutes.
Almost as suddenly as it started
it was all over. Apparently no SER
ious damage resulted.
The raid did not last long enough
to equal in intensity the Saturday
and Sunday attacks on the British
capital.
There was some belief that the
Germans had found it 100 difficult
to penetrate British defenses in
strength and that they might be
returning to their earlier tactics of
quick, sharp attacks designed to
knock out the royal air force.
There was little effort in London
to minimize the terrific toll in
damage ana lives taken by the
German air blitzkrieg which start
ed about pm. Saturday and con-
tinued with little relaxation since
that hour.
The air ministry significantly
warned that the worst was yet TO
come. Describing September as "a
very critical month in the war,
the ministry sasd the German
attackers have mot yet reached
the top note of heir crescendo."
The belief was general that as
the German air attack mounted to
new heights it would be accompan-
led or followed by the first actual
attempt TO invade the British Isles
since the time of William The Con-
queror.
There were indications that the
British were holding in reserve air
squadrons against that desperate
hour The air ministry spoke OF
reserve filters apparently being held
back for the decisive encounter and
it was stated that Britain's new
secret fighters and bombers have
not yet been put into service despite
hints by Germany that the luft-
waite is using its latest aircrafts in
the "all out" attempt against Eng