Mr. Newman sends us word from London that air raids there are
strengthening instead of weakening the morale of the British. Few
Londoners ever think of hiding in the bomb-proof cellars when the
enemy planes arrive, and when the warning signal is given the entire
population rushes to the roofs of buildings and other points of vantage
to watch the fight. Mr. Newman witnessed a night air raid on London.
“For fear that I might miss something,” he writes, “I went up on the
roof of a building and watched the searchlights and saw the flash of
the many anti-aircraft guns. The boom of cannon and the whirr of the
machines was an inspiring spectacle. I must say that the British airmen
are perfectly wonderful. I watched with intense excitement several
battles in the air, during which I saw flashes of fire from the machine
guns which the British flyers were using to destroy the German planes.
Seven of the invaders were brought down, and while I regret that any
got away, I think the result was most gratifying. Were it not for the
loss of life and the destruction of property, I would like to see
another raid.”
Mr. Newman, accompanied by a British major, made a tour of the English
provinces, where millions of women are engaged in war work. “The women
of England,” writes Mr. Newman, “are working very hard; they are doing
work that few people would believe women capable of performing. I have
a picture of women workers in Glasgow forging steel ingots. Women make
shells of every size, run huge machines of every description, build
hydro and aeroplanes, do carpentry work, blacksmithing, painting, and,
in fact, almost every phase of labor formerly done by men. I have
obtained pictures of the Land Army composed of women doing all kinds of
heavy farm work, such as harnessing horses, and ploughing. In Edinburgh
I photographed some quaint street scenes showing the motor buses with
huge gas bags on top to take the place of petrol. I went to Ilford,
where I photographed girls working on engines as stokers, oilers and
cleaners. The American Y.M.C.A. Hut in London is a very busy center,
where our boys are entertained and cared for. I have a pretty picture
of an American girl making flapjacks for some of our sailor boys.
Other pictures I have show girl chauffeurs, ‘Penguins’ or Royal Air
Force Girls, girl messengers, porters, and a girl driving an electric
truck. Londoners are ‘carrying on’ cheerfully, and at the same time are
enjoying theaters and other such pleasures as life in wartime permits.”