Evening star., 1942-12-16

Press 1DnS in England from start
to finish of the mass rnids.)
BY LOUIS v. HUNTER,
Canadian Press stan Writer
LONDON. Dec. 16.-The story o1
how Britain's provincial cite;
moved from the margin to the cen.
ter of the picture" after the German
air force had failed to knock out
London in the battle of Britain |.
told officially for the first time to.
day in the government publication
Front Line, l940- 194l."
The battle of London drew to its
close in November, 1910, after three
months of relentless bombing that
stimulated rather than depressed
the morale of Londoners. The same
was true when the Luftwaffe di.
verted its attention to the provincial
towns, the arms centers, ports anc
seaside resorts.
Some were badly hit but no cen.
ter outside London had to endure
anything like the sustained bomb.
suffered comparable damage
The Germans inaugurated theil
new policy with the big raid or
Coventry November IA. 1910. Foul
hundred planes dropped on a lin.
tied area of the small midland city
a much greater weight of bombs
than any part of London of The
same size had had to endure ia 8
single night. There we're 600 incl
dents, the Official description of ar
occurrence requiring the attention
of trained ARP personnel.
The special quality of the provin.
cial raids is illustrated by the fac,
that the following night there was
a heavy raid on London and ir
the central area of the city, with
a population l6 times greater than
Coventry, there were less than three
times the number of incidents.
The raids brought special orde,
to the inhabitants of smaller cities
All Heard Fall Of Bombs.
such a concentration of missiles
as the Germans achieved in Gov
entry meant, for instance, that most
of the inhabitants heard. or felt
the fall of every bomb" Front Line
says. There was no question OF
the attack moving from one part
Of the target to another, as the
night wore on. Every moment the
onslaught bore down on the CEN
ter of the city and its nearer
environs; by the same token every
moment 1t bore down upon the
nerves and eardrums of the people
Despite never-failing schemes o.
reinforcement there Is something
fearfully exposed, naked and un.
befriended about city of limited
size under heavy understanding
which Londoners were not callec
upon to experience.
The visible after effects matched
this comparison. London was deeply
SCARED and widely desolated. II
the city and part of the East End
great blocks and neighborhoods
we're brought down or burned out
and parts of the central area were
left unmarked. But the heart OF
the West End. London,s playground
the famous shopping centers, are
at worst unrecognizable and at best
unharmed.
f"Piccadilly. Regent street, Oxford
street, Clubland, Theaterland-st
there. In many Of the other great
cities it is a different story After
some of the heavy raids it was pos
sible to stand at certain points in
or near their center and hardly
know where one was. Not only did
the raw wounds cape and the smoke
curl weirdly among endless arcades
Of twisted steel, but the very con-
tours of the city had been battered
out OF recognition. People had ia
take their bearings carefully and
peer about to pe sure of their direc-
ton
Blitz veterans need no reminder OF
what they went throuoh-it is q
living memory that shall fade only
when the last survivor is gone. But
Front Line, 1940-1941, abounds in
Information previously withheld
from the public for security reasons
That is why this volume is on the
way to being the governments best
seller.
Casualty Figures Posted.
During the blitz casualty figure,
were posted from day to day almost
inconspicuously outside each bor-
ough office or town hall. Only a
fraction of the population saw. OF
took the trouble to look at these cold
black figures on small slip of white
paper. News agencies then were not
allowed to cable abroad these figures
Nor were they allowed to publish q
compilation. Similar rules governed
the British press
Now for the first time. we are
allowed to say that London hae
three air raids in each Of which
more than 1000 persons were killed
Up to the end of last year 10000
bombs were dropped on Great Brit.
ain and 1867 civilians were killed
The seriously injured-and thai
means only hospital cases-num'
bered 50387. The II months from
September, 1910, to the end Of tn,
following July. $4,000 to 50.0Ot
bombs mot including incendiaries,
were dropped on the London region
They weighed about $500 tons.
The first of the three bigges
raids on London was Wednesday
April Is, l94l. About $50 bomber
dropped a great tonnage of bomb
mostly in the south and cente
parts of the city, killing more thar
1000 and injuring twice as many
Three nights later, about 35'
bombers made two attacks ant
again more than 1000 died. Thes
raids were the Wednesday" an,
''the Saturday" to all Londoners-
to all who were here then.
But the last big raid of all, Ma,
IN established n record for casual