The Wilmington morning star., 1940-09-07
GROUND GUNS ACTIVE
One Bomb Explodes Near
Mouth OF Shelter But Dc.
cupants Not Hurt
MANY FIRES STARTED
Forty-Five German Planes
Reported Downed; Brit.
ain Loses 10 Craft

LONDON, Sept. 7.-(Saturday) Up
Hitler's raiders splashed pitch
black London with a chain Of blind
ing flares and bombs last night
and early today, carrying around
the clock their mightiest raids yet
on the pulse of this island fortress.
At 1:01 a. m, today, the grateful,
steady shrek of the "all clear
ended the sixth raid since Friday
morning. This alarm lasted an
hour and % minutes.
Three cream bombs were
dropped just before the fifth raid
ended-and a whistling bomb her
aided the presence of the enemy
in the sixth alarm.
Shelter Endangered
German bombers struck at one
of the London districts thus far
untouched by the raiders, dropping
high explosive and incendiary
bombs. One bomb exploded near
the entrance of an underground
public shelter but none of the sew
eral hundred occupants was In
jured.
Fires from Nazi incendiary
bombs still burned brightly in the
London area when the raiders re-
turned again at 1888 p. m. (5:33
D. m. Eastern Standard Time),
Just % minutes after the fifth in
the days succession of all-clears.
There were several casualties in
the fifth raid.
In this attack, showers of light
and fire were loosed. 1t was a new
bombing technique: A raider would
drop a triple flare of three bril-
liant white lights strung together.
While it was descending, the plane
would make off to avoid the
searchlights and then, when the
flare was low enough to illuminate
the target, would dive back over
and release it's bombs. =,
Ground Guns Busy
The anti-aircraft batteries roared
back ceaselessly.
A number of streets in M resi-
dental r were bombed. Houses
were demolished and set aflame.
There were casualties. Residents
said the bombers set off fires with
incendiaries and returned to drop
high explosives upon areas already
in flames.
In the sixth raid, a new fire was
seen to flare up.
At times, the tin hats of midtown
rooftop aircraft spoilers" could
be seen for blocks away, in the
brilliant light of falling parachute
Up to 1870 p. M, the air min
istry said, As German planes had
been shot down to 10 lost by the
British. In the period between Aug.
30 and Sept. 5, it was added, 371
Nazi raiders had gone down.
During the morning, British
craft were declared to have
down Germans at the rate Of one
every two minutes in the days
heaviest attack.
Come In Waves
In that period, the planes came
in masses of 200 and 300; in wave
of 20 and 80.
The British went out to meet
them, in Kent and Essex and
even over the coast, and officials
said they drove them off.
In a single battle in the south
east, the defenders clawed at least
"a raiders out of the sky and be-
ieved they had destroyed several
,thers.
People died and homes were
smashed in London's suburbs-in
one ~outlaying section, b o m b
Knocked over 40 homes in a row.
and damage was acknowledged to
;ome factory and railroad proper
y.
Officials said, however, that the
from which Londcn's last
inc of defenders spring were
shielded from the attacks,
md the air ministry's account Of
overnight R. A. F. assaults on Ger
many and the continent made it
perfectly CHAR that the British
,ombers still are blasting method
cally attthe reich's vitals.
bomb Wide Area
From ReGensburg on the old
>zechoslovak border to stettin on
he Baltic, the R. A. F. raiders
let aflame Hitler's oil and gasoline
stores, carried out another fora,
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