PORTS BOMBED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 23, 7 November 1940, Page 5

PORTS BOMBED.

ACTIVITY BY ROYAL AIR FORCE. EXPLOSIONS AND FIRES. LONDON, November 6. While the Germans, disregarding had weather, attacked widespread areas in, Britain last night, the Royal Air F'orce ftew across the Channel in the teeth of a southerly gale an,d bombed! targets on the French coast. Flashes of exploding bombs, searchlights sweeping the-sky and buirsts of shells were visible from the English coast,. The attacks appealed to he aimed against Boulogne and the longrange guns at Cape Gris Nez. The only official statement so far is that British bombers last night- attacked objectives in Germany and invasion: ports in enemy-occupied territory. Adverse weather over Germany on Monday night again hampered opera tions (by aircraft of the Bomber Command. " Channel coast areas were attacked and early in the night opportunity was taken of improved weather to launch harassing attacks against docks and shipping at Le Havre, Boulogne and Ostend. The sky was clear when the first raider reached Le Havre, shortly after 8.30 p.m. .It dropped a stick of bombs across the Basin tie Maria, from a low level and started several large fires. By 9.30 p.m. great banks of clouds 6000 feet deep covered the sky, reducing visibility to the minimum,. In. the final attack launched in a shallow dive to below cloud level, a salvo of heavy calibre bombs 'Was seen to strike a large hangar-like building at the Gave Maritime. A series'of explosions was followed 1 by six outbreaks of fire, one of which was of such intensity that it could Ire seen from 20 miVes out to sea, in spite of the had visibility. At Boulogne and Ostend, highexplosives and incendiaries were dropped in the dock areas, hut in both cases the clouds obscured the damage. One raider, prevented) hv the weather from locating Boulogne harbour attacked instead the aerodrome four miles north-east of Boulogne. Its bombs fell among groups of white lights at one end of the illuminated flares and started several small fires.