Evening star., 1944-11-05
London Gets Set to Face
Another Winter ofWar
BY Walter Nc cCallum.
Star War Correspondent.

S~VEU'S0Sfsts
comes as result Of nights and months
OF terror, Of meager rations, Of strug-
Cling for the necessities Of life, and the
mere business Of living. Americans find
1t hard to understand but that situation
does exist for millions of Londoners.
All the city and all the country Is
geared to the conflict across the Chan
mel, not so far away in miles, but q
long distance away now, when London
isn't being bombed wholesale any more.
The whole city seems hushed, awaiting
the end and fearful of long stalemate
on the front reaching from the Swiss
border to Anthem. When the European
war ends London probably will fly into
q frenzy OF celebration that will make
the 1918 armistice seem q dull thing
by comparison, but the people here now
are apparently resigned to another
winter Of war. They've been at it SO
long now 1t is just routine
But London nowadays Is talking of re-
habilitation, and the gray old city needs
it-badly. Around many of the count
less squares which dot the sprawling
city, you note row on row of houses
which have not been inhabited for
years. The former occupants have gone
elsewhere, or the houses have been
closed for lack of staff. Thousands of
houses have been bombed out of possi-
bility of occupancy for some time to
come. 1t all contributes to Londons
serious housing situation, a matter
much worse than in any American city,
even overcrowded Washington.
Millions Of pounds will have to be
spent to bring London back to prewar
condition, in the face of a shortage Of
workmen and Of construction materials
Many Insignificant items entering into
construction work are very difficult to
obtain, and the manpower shortage is
serious. There is even talk of with
drawing skilled building artisans from
the armed forces to help the job. When
you run into a situation where upward
OF a million homes have been damaged
in a single city, some beyond repair,
you have a rehabilitation task the
enormity of which is appalling. But
London gets on with it and now there
Is talk of doing all the essential jobs
by April /. which means that many
Londoners will have to go through their
sixth winter of war without proper
housing facilities.
If America, without much private
building for nearly three years, has q
job on its hands. picture what the Brit
ish have, with 600 900 homes in London
alone needing rehabilitation. Some
areas are completely without homes.
In others as you walk around the capi-
tai you see occasional spots which have
caught doodle-bug, destroying or
partially destroying perhaps 20 or 80
structures. In churches and hospitals
alone the work will be tremendous.
This is not a picture of London COM
pletely devastated. The damage is
sporadic. Some districts, notably those
over which the great tower of ST. Paul's
dominated the rubble. are pitiful re-
suits of the great fire bltz of three years
ago. In the dock areas and in East Lon
don the damage has been severe It has
not been so bad in parts of the West
End, but as you walk around you note
new and old damage, that caused by
buzz-bombs and the other the result Of
old bombings. You can tell the differ
ence easily enough. The emergency
water tanks are alongside the relics of
old bombings, and buzz bombs don't set
fires, and therefore water is not so
necessary.
But on the whole London is coming
back in vigorous fashion. Every second
vehicle you see is that of a repairman
or contractor. Unobtrusively the
work goes on and although it will
stretch on for many years London
eventually will return to its former
shape. The gray and black patina on
the old pillars and walls will deepen
and the newly repaired houses will
stand out against the ancient back
ground. 1t will be a mixture Of the
old and new, when materials become
available again, and there will be a
great rush for American materials.