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Show London's Appearance Changes As City 'Digs In' For Protection Against Hitler's Air-Raiders metal cover to underground caverns, housing hundreds of people. As we step down into one of the larger ones,- we might imagine at first we were in our own fruit cellar a low-ceilinged low-ceilinged tunnel eight to ten feet wide, with many twists and turns for protection in case of collapse. They are very bare, with cement walls and sheet-metal tops, with an occasional bench for long sieges. Small lights guide us. These shelters shel-ters are open to everyone. Ranging from hundreds to thousands thous-ands of feet above us can 'be seen huge sausage-shaped balloons. This is England's balloon-barrage. Hundreds Hun-dreds of these cover London (as all principal cities). Their purpose is to make flying dangerous for enemy planes. Three heavy steel cables anchor and stabilize each balloon. These are placed promiscuously about, making a straight air course dangerous and, at night, impossible. impossi-ble. This also forces attackers to a high altitude, minimizing the effectiveness ef-fectiveness of their aim. Adding to the city's protection ' we see anti-aircraft guns at such points as London Bridge, Royal Arch, Arsenal Stadium, etc., and at all open parks and commons. The guns are fully manned at all times. By Joseph II. Clayson s How does London live at nighttime, night-time, during the war? How does this great city prepare for raids by enemy attackers from the air? These questions are of great interest in-terest to the American public at this time, when the ever-dreaded big-scale air raids apparently are about to begin. As a missionary to the British Isles, I returned to London as the raids on Warsaw were beginning two days before war was declared on Germany. Since the pact of Munich, England En-gland had (been preparing for this great emergency, hoping against hope that it would not come. Fevered Fev-ered preparations were made during these months to provide adequate protection for the civilian population, popula-tion, against the bombing by enemy raiders. Picture a metropolis of eight million people a city bristling with defenses against attackers from the air, with its buildings piled high with sandbags, air raid shelters shel-ters on every hand, anti-aircraft guns atop the big buildings and in strategic places, the balloon-barrage hovering over the city, civilians Novel and artistic designs are created cre-ated on store and shop windows. This is done with adhesive tape to prevent shattering of glass and still allow display room. Street curbs are painted white, trees, posts, mail boxes and other obstructions are all given white stripes. Lamps are dimmed to a faint shaft of light. All this prepares pre-pares one for night, when London lives in Darkness. If one must travel to his home after night has come, he must proceed pro-ceed slowly and with due caution. Not uncommon is the experience of running into a tree, building, or another person. Buses carry dull blue lights, trains have none, with I compartments as black as coal. J For two weeks prior to sailing for i the United States, I was in London. ! All of this was a common sight. ! Blackouts became quite a natural j thing. One could travel quite easily on moonlight nights, but when clouds came even the small sky lights were gone, leaving a complete blackout. Upon several occasions we were aroused from our beds at all hours by sharp, intermittent blasts from sirens. These were air raid warnings. warn-ings. Dressing hurriedly (in the dark) we rushed to our air raid shelter. Some time later an all clear signal was given by a long, straight blast. all carrying gas masks, and buildings, build-ings, trees and streets marked for night-time travel without lights, and the entire population and its defenders de-fenders on the alert for any emergencythis emer-gencythis is a picture of London awaiting an air-raid alarm. Sand bags filled with dirt taken from trenches and air raid shelter excavations, are piled high against buildings, to brace possible falling walls and to take the brunt of any blast. Famous Bow Street Police station, now crowded with "undesirable "unde-sirable aliens," resembles greatly an Eskimo's igloo, with Buckingham I Palace, now more strongly guarded against possible civilian attack, is no longer the beautiful place it had always been. Granite walls, once proud and stately, are now disfigured disfig-ured with row upon row and pile upon pile of dull, gray sandbags. Even the beautiful palace gardens have been sacrificed to house air raid shelters and provide sand for the bags. Hyde Park, traditional stomping grounds of Mormon missionaries, mis-sionaries, now shelters batteries of anti-aircraft guns, serves as an anchor an-chor for balloons of the balloon-barrage, balloon-barrage, and covers countless airraid air-raid shelters for the civilian population. popu-lation. Air raid shelters, which one sees on every hand, in backyards, behind be-hind buildings, near factories, etc. range from a two-man cylindrical |
