Evening star., 1941-05-11
British Shoot Down 33 Planes
As Nazis Bomb London Six Hours;
Flames Engu|f Entire Blocks
ReprisoI Attack
One of Hardest
Assaults Of War

BACKGROUND
Beginning in March. British and
German iCdrplaneS hare struck
in force at each Others capitals,
admittedly causing large-scale
damage. In interim. English
planes hdUe attacked Nazi in
rdSion ports across Channel and
Germans haze attempted to
cripple Britain's ,UeSt coast ports
through 1Uhich England no1D is
receiring increasing 1Uar material
from the United States.
By the Associated Press.
LONDON, May 11-(Sunday). -
Roaring fires set by hordes of Nazi
bombers engulfed whole blocks in
London this morning and gray
pail of smoke hung over the bat
tered city as dawn brought an end
to a deadly repriSal raid in which
the British said 33 German war
planes were shot down.
Tic raiders, racing through bril-
liantlv moonlit skies, appeared
shortly after midnight and loosed
thousands of incendiaries and their
biggest explosives on the capital in
one Of the hardest assaults of the
war The all clear sounded just
before dawn, after six hours of
bombs
Dazed Londoners watched dogged
firemen battle to stem the march of
the greedy flames set by the raiders,
but whole blocks of buildings blazed
skyward with gigantic roars and
columns of smoke mounted into the
sky to cover the bombed sections
with a funereal pail
124 Night Total for May.
The full moon which lighted the
heavens was an ally of the raiders
but proved a good hunting COM
panion for the night fighters. too,
the British said. The fighter planes
were credited with bagging 81 Nazi
warplanes during the night, while
anti-aircraft guns got two others,
bringing to 124 the total of raiding
planes shot down at night thus far
In May.
Some R. A. F. planes tried to
fly to Berlin last night, but only
a few reached the vicinity"
authorized sources reported in
Berlin, adding that no raiders
few over the city proper
Incendiary and explosive bombs
were dropped on Hamburg, they
said, principally on residential
quarters, resulting in casualties
and property damage"
Reports thus far show that
eight enemy planes were shot
down." the Germans added,
Showers of Cinders.
With the London casualties
mounting, large concentrations Of
the Luftwaffe ragged for several hours
across the sky, starting fires and
then raining explosives into the
very center of the flames.
Great torches of fires ragged sky
ward. Showers of burning cinders
were potential danger to the
ancient buildings of London.
A stiff breeze billowed smoke,
flames and sparks across the me-
tropolis.
The sound of the looming planes,
the incendiaries and the blasting
force of bombs from huge "Molotov
baskets" felt hundreds of yards
away made the night hideous for
the empire capital.
The raid tapered off to lull in
the early morning hours, and then
series of shattering blasts told
that the Germans were back again
in full force.
Planes Swarm Low.
Two hospitalwardens' posts were
among direct hits scored by the
Luftwaffe as its planes swarmed low
over the city.
There were many reports of peo-
pie buried in the wreckage of
heavily bombed residential districts
and defense services were given lit
tie respite in fighting the rain of
high explosive and incendiary
bombs.
1t was a ajor attack that quickly
gave signs of approaching the big
gest raid of the war on London on
the night of April 16.
The terrific attack was unleashed
last night and it grew in intensity as
the morning came. While the raid
ers directed their main attack at
London, there were indications of
some activity in other parts of the
country.
Raiders Came Low.
Soon after the sirens sounded. the
heavy bombs began to fall in Lon
don areas and the raiders came
down to unusually low heights.
"It seemed they were almost as
low as the rooftops," some observers
said.
One bomber was reported shot
down in flames.
AS the night wore on and the as
sault became increasingly heavier,
the British reported three more
raiders blasted out of the moon
lit sky
CThe British radio said two of
the German bombers brought
down were seen to explode in
mldair, the third fell in flames
(see LONDON, Page AID