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THE CHINA MAIL, DECEMBER 14, 1940.
WOMEN RACE TO WATCH AN AIR BATTLE
(By A Correspondent)
NAZI BOMB-BLASTING may shake the homes,
BACK TO
but not the spirit and morale of those thousands of THE STAGE
people on the South-East Coast, who daily have the war brought to their very doorsteps.
AT 81
Favourites of the music-halls in Victorian days, Mr. and Mrs. C. Emlyn-Jones, aged 80 and 81
Darby and Joan because they act- ed together for more than 40 years-are to stage a come-back,
I have had proof of that after a visit to towns where residents had "grand stand" views of a big- scale air attack on a British convoy. You have to see and hear these people during air raids to realise respectively-known as the Stage what "high morale” really means. I know now.
Let me tell you of a woman It is the same all round the who watched from her flat win- nose of the coast. Dance halls, dow high on the cliffs the fierce cinemas, hotels and restaurants fighting almost over her head and carry on as usual, and there has out in the Channel over the con- to be violent gun-fire before voy.
anyone thinks of taking any sort of shelter.
"That Half Hour'''
They are to give a number of performances at a Harrow theatre to help war charity. In the last war they emerged from their retirement for a similar purpose.
The couple, who are now. liv- Crazy it may be, but i ac- ing in retirement at Denville tually saw people rush Into Hall, a home for aged actors and "In that half hour I was look- their houses when a raid start.actresses at North Wood, staged ing out to sea I thought there ed and dash out with bicycles the first concert party to be held must have been the whole Ger- to go to the cliffs and watch. in Britain at Merthyr, in 1875.
On the cliffs, watching man Air Force here. In all the
two They claim to have sung in thrills I saw the bombs falling German 'planes chased away by every concert hall in London, around the ships, water spouting the A.A. guns, I talked to a Lon- and Mr. Emlyn-Jones has played
at Covent Garden, air, and planes don woman of 65. high into the
the Royal "Are we worrled recklessly diving, zig-zagging and
and the Albert Hall,
the Crystal crashing into the sea. Then I raids? Not on your life. I pro Palace with Patti, Sims Reeves saw a bomb hit a ship. That mole whist drives here every and Edward Lloyd, sickened me. But I soon got over night," she explained, and no Mrs. Emlyn-Jones formed the German bombing will get us Welsh Ladies' Choir, with whom Next instant a Nazl plane away from it once we have set-she toured the country for went hurtling into the sea, as tled down. There are no 'chit-years. our fighters. wen't
In neys' here!" right among them. Another crashed down, and yet another.
it.
"That makes things even, thought, I saw two other boats hit, but they did not sink. Again I watched
I
German 'plane'
plunge in flames into the sea.
about
18
"It is 30 years since we re- It was more with amuse-tired," they said. "There will ment than anything else that be few people alive who remem- people watched a police car ber us, but in the olden days we patrolling the streets advising were two of the favourites." them on amplifiers to leave the town.
"We are doing nothing of the
Leave the town?
'WOMEN 'CATCH'
+
BALLOON
When a barrage balloon, which' had broken away from its moor- ings, landed in. Richmond Road, Tottenham, men and women ràn from their
and caught hold of the drifting ropes.
"No. I was not unnerved. Cer-kind," indignantly exclaimed an tainly, there was plenty of noise edge of the cliff. We pay no at- elderly man living almost on the from the shore batteries, ma- chine-gunning and bombing but tention to it. that won't upset our nerves, We Why people who did go out of are case-hardened, here,
it soon after the war broke out and know exactly what to expect are returning every day."
So much for the effect any of once raids start.
homes had a the Nazi raids or convoy attacks "But I must admit I horrible feeling when I watched are having on the community. that boat go down. Still, we ap- "If there are any defeatists about As one woman tersely put it. preciate that we must expect to
the country, send them down lose something in these big-scale
here. They'll soon be cured!" rived. attacks.
"Anyway, it was a bad day for Hitler. He doesn't fool us
vented it damaging surrounding They held the balloon and pre-
property until RA.F. men er-
with his claims. I see by the SPEED-BOAT GOES TO IT
German version the Nazis lost 10 'planes and we 49. Their own people may take that in, but we don't. We can see "for ourselves how the fight is going.
"That's
better," she replied when I told her the precise gains and losses in the battle. And there was a gleam of satisfac- tion as I enumerated them.
"The 24 German Bombers dc- stroyed cost about £360.000, and the 38 fighters about £180,000. So Germany's air attack meant a loss of E540,000." I explained, "We lost 16 fighters and two ships sunk with seven small boats damaged.
“A Grand Fight” "Well, we can't grumble at that, can we?" was her reply.
a
SEVENTEEN HOURS OF THRILLS AT SEA
ADVENTURES OF an R.A.F. Coastal Command GOft. speed launch during 17 hours' duty in the Eng- lish Channel were described in an Air Ministry bulletin.
It picked up scamen from a sinking ship.
other
Towed lifeboats with Aurvivors to a naval vessel.
Searched for German birmen shot down in an air battle; and
course in an effort to save the Nazi crows, whèn nine German fighters rakod the unprotected craft with machine-gun fire. The wireless operator was killed in his cabin, and a ser- geant was severely wounded. The hull was hit by more than 100 Machine-gunned by nina Nazi bullets, many incendiary. These aircraft, which killed the wire-started three fires, but each was less operator, twice wounded a got under control. sergeant, and started three fires with incendiary bullets..
was
"It was a grand fight, Noth- Ing in that to frighten us here. It was Just like a cinema show; but a real life. onè.” There you have it from woman spectator of, one of the fiercest air battles in history. And that is typical of these folk in the strip of coast where raids
The nine enemy fighters attack- mean nothing more than the ring
ed repeatedly, three times firing of their front door bell, KA
Its final adventure. was when on the launch on both sides, al- Another woman who watched it found its propellors fouled, most at mast height,
them, and theh told me she heard the shrapnel freed one of falling in front of her house, and drifted until towed into port by immediately there was a full in a lifeboat,
the battle she rushed down to The launch went out at 10.4.m. collect souvenirs. And she did. to seek an aircraft believed to be in the res. It got back to its I saw them
The proprietor of an hotel, base at three o'clock next morn- hardened himself by the coning: stant air action, admitted his ad- miration for the towns-peöplo, particularly the women.
British nghter's arrived and drove off the enemy plants, one of which crashed in the sea..
Dritting Helplessly
It was found that the three engines of the launch were stopped. An aircraftman dived into the sea to clear the fouling of the propellors. The Aldis signalling lamp and the wireless set had been, bo damaged that communication was impossible Distress algnals - Were unobservcu,
14 Men Rescued "They are as daring-if not From ships' lifeboats it took on more than their husbands, board 14 injured men, and took InThursday's show, which three of the boats in tow in a wha baslly - Tha hotalnat we've rough:#en.PN had, they were racing to wan It cruited about the Channel The helpless launch, was drifting. tage points to see the fun. You until a naval vessel was found, to away from the English const in čan't stop thom...”
which the 10jured men and those the duski-k well understand the in the boats were transferred. The signalling lamp I can town's boast that there are more The sea became worse, but paired and messages. flashed A Rọc Hil people there than in any other guided by a Blenheim bomber about the Chantel, town along the coast, and that the launch kept up the search craft of the Flott Air Arm camo the morale is highest. Some of for other survivors over a wide over and indicated that a rescue
On bònt was on the way the elderly people have left for area until late afternoon. safer places, but the younger the way home It observed 40 or Then a lifeboat from Bem- tolic prefer to stay and watch 30 enemy aircraft bombing some bridge, Isle of Wight, arrived, and just, before dawn, the small what is going on." a police of merchant ships.
WAR
ficial told me. "Indeed, they're Two Tother Gorman machinon RAF. vessel, which had begun scared of being compulsorily werd Buch shot down by British its day towing lifeboats, wasit- evacuated,"
fighters, The launch altered I self towed in to its base.