Two large hotels were demolished, but fortunately their occupants were marshalled to safety in time and there was not a single casualty suffered there. Three department stores, six public houses and three churches were wrecked in the savage raid.
The first wave of raiders arrived soon after dusk and dropped flares. In their usual tactics, scores of Nazi craft flew over the city in relays and there was a rain of incendiary bombs. Finally heavy bombers zoomed over the city and released hundreds of high explosives that shook the city-and crumbled buildings by the score. The planes continued to attack the city without slackening their furious intensity for some six hours, After midnight the attacks started to fall off and then the raid came to a halt.
The raiders, according to the oficial joint communique issued by the Air and Home Security Ministries, started a number of is, mainly among business premises in a "fire" attack.
Some of the first reached serious proportions "but all were being brought under control in the early hours of this morning. Some damage wes done in a number of parts of the town, but reports so far received do not indicate that the casualties will be heavy," the communique said.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.