Evening star., 1944-11-05

LONDON (by MaiD Don't let any
one rise up and tell you that London
isn't still aware there Is q war on or
that the British of this hve-year
blacked-out capital have high hopes they
no longer will have to grope through
darkness to their homes after black
out time. In other words the black
out, which was supposed to end on Sep
tember n, still exists in all its depress-
ing aspects You have torch, or elec-
trio fiashlight, and you can flash 1t
little more than you could last winter,
and glimmers of light which would have
called down on the offender the
wrath of the wardens year ago peek
out from badly drawn curtains now
but the blackout still remains, the
most depressing spot IN London life.
On September ~ last the blackout
was supposed to have been replaced by
dimout. BY that time, the authorities
announced, London no longer was In
danger OF serious German air raids and
the owl-eyed citizens of the metropolis,
they thought, could have the benefit of
a little light. But that night the Ger
mans, who knew all along the prepara-
tions for suspension OF the blackout,
sent over q flock of buzz-bombs, London
once again was dunked in darkness
and 1t still exists. 1t probably will
exist until Germany quits.
No Master Switch.
The main reason Is that there is not
yet a single master switch or series of
switches which can black out the entire
city In matter Of seconds. Whole areas
such as Kensington and Mayfair, and
Holborn or Marylebone can be blacked
out, but there is not yet single switch
which will plunge the entire city into
blackness, and the authorities, fearful
Of damaging raid coming on them,
have decided to retain the blackout
for a while. So Londoners, who had
made plans for a celebration of the
end of darkness after nightfall, gave
them up and now are reconciled to
blackout until the end of the war.
Outwardly the city remains the same
as 1t was three months ago, at the height
OF the buzz bomb business. Thousands
OF people remain away from the
crowded metropolis, but the housing
situation seems not to have improved
Reason for that, Of course is the thou
sands OF homes partially ruined or
destroyed by the doodle-oug And the
London papers say much Of the damage
cannot be repaired before late spring.
Once in awhile, chiefly at night, the
sirens wall in weird crescendo, heralding
the coming Of a buzz-bomb. In my
neighborhood the sirens are particularly
strident. I don't know where they are,
but they must be close, and twice,
before the motors OF these mechanical
klaxons have finished whirling. I've
heard the dull thud Of a faraway
bomb, far enough away to feel, more
than hear, the impact and thunder of
the burst.
Americans Still Plentiful.
You don't see as many GIs around as
before D day in Normandy, but the
crowds Of Americans do not seem to
have diminished, although many head
quarters are elsewhere, on he continent.
No more do the buzz bombs come over
twice nightly. They come over only
occasionally, and usually are stopped
by the alert defenses far from London.
One or two may get through, but you
don't hear that ominous heavy buzz far
up in the sky as in the old days. Nor do
you see the great ball of fire at night,
limned in the glare of dozens Of search
lights as the lethel things travelled the
length Of London, to dip and explode
with a great burst of sound. London
is returning to its normal pace again,
but the shadow of war hasn't gone The
papers daily carry long casualty lists,
the streets are crowded and people
have that strained look on their faces,
the corollary Of five years and more
Of war. 1t is look foreign to Americans,
and common to London, something that