§ 8. Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for Air where and when the first air bombardment took place on large towns or cities in Germany and Great Britain, and on Berlin and London, respectively, since the collapse of France; 916 and whether he has any information as to the number of killed and seriously injured through air bombardment in Germany during the above period?
§ Sir A. SinclairOn the night of 18th–19th June, 1940, following the French request for an armistice made on the 17th of the same month, bombs were dropped on Cambridge, Bury St. Edmunds and Southend, killing 10 persons and injuring a number of others. On the same night the Royal Air Force attacked military targets in Hamburg, Bremen and elsewhere in North-West Germany. London was first bombed on 15th–16th August. There was a considerable number of casualties, many of which were fatal. Military targets in Berlin were attacked for the first time by the Royal Air Force on 25th Auugst. The answer to the second part of the Question is in the negative.
§ Mr. SorensenCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether we may take it that, as we have been assured that the material damage is 50 times greater in Germany than it is here, the number of people killed and injured is possibly in the same proportion?
§ Sir A. SinclairI cannot possibly accept the hon. Gentleman's figures. I have never said that the damage in Germany is 50 times greater than it is here.
§ Mr. SorensenIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that one of his colleagues has made that statement?