WW I Attack Base Hospital No. 5-- Part 5: New Air Raid Warnings Devised

The last and most fatal bomb resulted in the deaths of Privates Woods and Rubino and wounded Privates Mason, Sloane, Stanton and McLeod.  Five amputations were necessary for Aubrey S. McLeod, whose legs were shattered by the terrific force of the explosion.

After the attack, flags at No. 11 (Harvard U.S.A.) General Hospital were flown at half mast.  Plans were to have memorial services on Sunday evening, September 9, but they were terminated because of an air raid warning.

In addition, everyone was expected to dig a trench by their tent in which to take shelter in new air raids.  A new method of air warning was also developed.  Three one-minute blasts from the cement factory whistle served as the warning.  Five shorter ones  meant all clear.

For the remainder of September and well into October,  air raid warnings were often heard, but most often were false alarms.

--Cooter

Bethnal Green Disaster, 1943-- Part 2

BBC reported a heavy raid on Berlin on March 1st, so a retaliatory attack was expected. On March 3rd, at 8:17 pm, air defence sirens went off and people began an orderly move down into the tunnels. At 8:27, a nearby anti-aircraft battery opened fire, launching a new type of rocket, that people had never heard before.

This frightened the crowd, which started pushing forward faster. It is believed that a woman, possibly carrying a baby, tripped on the stairs, causing others to fall around her. Civilians toward the back did not know this and continued to push forward, and in a very short time, about 90 seconds, 300 people were crushed. A total of 172 people were dead on the scene and another died at a hospital. Even worse, 62 were children.

The tragedy was reported, but due to wartime censorship, the location was not given. This was the largest single loss of civilians during WW II, and none of them were from German bombs. Actually, I never did read whether an attack actually occurred that night.

The largest single civilian loss in London during the attacks was 65 at Balham Underground station when an armor piercing bomb exploded in it.

Sad to Be True. --Cooter

Bethnal Green Disaster, 19 Part 1

Earlier, in the previous post, #6, I hadn't ever heard of the disaster that claimed the 173 lives at the London air raid shelter, so did a little research on Wikipedia and other sources. It was definitely a tragedy and perhaps one that shouldn't have happened, but under the circumstances, not surprising.

Unfortunately, I wrote about it in another blog http://downdaroadigo.blogspot.com.

See today's date.

More to Come. --Cooter