CAB80-25 — Page 74

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restored at all termini with the exception of Fenchurch Street. Though the position has greatly improved, working is still retarded, and considerable congestion remains.

(c) Factories.-Four important food-factories in the Dock area were hit, but fortunately damage was unimportant. Buck and Hickman, Ltd. (machine- tools) was burnt out; otherwise Key Point factories escaped serious damage.

(d) Public Utilities.-The South Metropolitan Gas Works and the Bankside Electricity Power Station both suffered minor damage and, generally, only local and temporary damage was done to main services.

(e) Telecommunications.-Post Office property suffered severely, the Central Telegraph Office, with three Telephone Exchanges housed in the same building, were completely gutted: fires also occurred in three other Exchanges. Consider- able dislocation of communications resulted, especially between London and the South-East of England.

(f) Public Buildings and Hospitals.-The most serious loss is that of the Guildhall, which was destroyed, while eight Wren Churches in the City were more or less severely damaged. St. Stephen's, Westminster, Westminster Cathedral and Bryanston Square Church were also affected. Trinity House was almost entirely destroyed. Damage was also done to the Royal Courts of Justice, the Tower, the British Museum and Public Record Office, County Hall, Westminster City Hall. Guy's Hospital had to be evacuated and other hospitals and nursing homes were damaged in Holborn (3), Lambeth, Waltham Cross, Bermondsey, Stepney and Camberwell.

(g) Service Property.-R.A.F. stores were damaged at the White City Stadium and three Army Huts burnt in Hyde Park. In Stepney and Southwark various A.R.P. establishments were damaged.

Elsewhere.

55. Southampton.-Damage was done to ships under construction at Thornycroft's Works (see Naval Situation). Some damage was also done in Southampton docks and a tug was sunk.

Crewe. Some damage was done to buildings at the Rolls Royce Works, but comparatively little to plant. Production was, however, delayed for 18 hours. owing to interference with the electrical supply.

Civilian Casualties.

56. For the week ending 0600 1st January, the approximate figures are 257 killed and 795 injured. The London figures for this period were 230 killed and 769 injured.

Unexploded Bombs and Mines.

57. The total outstanding for disposal has been reduced from 1.753 to 1,544.

Civil Defence and Morale.

58. The attack on London on the night of the 29th/30th December produced a critical fire situation, and the fire services were fully extended; it was not until the morning of the 1st January that all fires could be reported under control.

The danger of relaxing vigilance in Civil Defence at week-ends was disastrously illustrated; and, in this connection, it is of interest to note that of the nine Sundays in November and December, seven were the occasions of major raids directed at the largely depopulated areas of the big cities.

Reports still show general morale to be good, with a considerable encourage- ment derived from the recent British and Greek successes.

Assessment of Damage in Manchester.

59. An assessment of the industrial damage which occurred in the Manchester raids of the 22nd/23rd and 23rd/24th December, and which was not available for inclusion in the last Résumé, is given below.

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