Newspaper cuttings - London hears blitz

Newspaper cuttings - London hears blitz

Reports that Londoners and people in the home counties heard the battle of Le Havre, 140 miles from London. Was particularly loud on south coast. Describes the sound of battle.

One newspaper cutting

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NWeedenRC170409-030006

Freak of the rumble that skipped coast.

London hears the blitz

Express Staff Reporter

MILLIONS of Londoners and people in the Home Counties heard the Battle of Havre, 140 miles from London, yesterday.

At first, in Hyde Park and other quiet traffic-free places, faint rumbling could be heard. Later this became louder and the frequency of the bangs resembled drum fire.

On high ground, such as Hampstead and Putney Heaths, groups of people stood listening to the distant gunfire. Some thought they saw clouds of smoke on the distant horizon.

An observer on a high point in South-East London heard the bombardment from 4.15 to 6 p.m. He said:-

"It was as clearly audible and continuous as an ack-ack barrage. In the distance I saw columns of smoke rising, and in other places clouds of white smoke, which afterwards turned black.

"At 6.15 p.m. the noise began again, and our top-floor windows vibrated slightly."

Windows rattle
Windows rattled also in the Thames Estuary and in Sussex.

People in Suffolk and Norfolk also reported hearing the rumble. Some said it reminded them of cross-Channel gunfire of the last war.

This bombardment was not heard particularly loudly on the Channel coast, where, apart from cross-Channel shelling, reporters described the afternoon as comparatively quiet.

Service experts in London attributed the phenomenon to the state of the weather.

They pointed out that sometimes sounds are heard at a long distance from their source and not heard by people much nearer.

'Heaviest barrage'
BUT the coast heard the explosions last night.

At 7 p.m. there began what was described as "the heaviest barrage ever heard on the English side of the Straits.”

For about 15 minutes there was an unbroken roll of heavy guns, which some observers thought might be naval guns of big calibre firing broadsides.

Flashes were seen in the Boulogne area, and just off the coast a number of flares and tracer bullets were seen. It is believed that Allied planes were dropping the flares and German A.A. guns were trying to shoot them down.

The Dover area was shaken for several minutes by heavy bombardments coming from near Boulogne. Houses shook and windows and door rattled.

Watchers on the cliffs at Folkestone saw gun flashes on the French coast. A nest of guns was firing a few miles from Calais and other guns in the cliffs towards Boulogne were in action.

Germans fire
FRONT line towns in the South-East Coast area were under shell fire warning when the enemy's big guns across the water opened fire yesterday.

Holiday-makers were arriving during one of the spells of gunfire.

One area had four shelling warnings between 11.45 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. yesterday.

Through loudspeakers people were advised to take food with them to the shelters because the warnings might be long. Sunday lunches were eaten in shelters.