ALMOST NIGHTLY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 238, 21 July 1941, Page 8

ALMOST NIGHTLY

" '' rr : ' ’ !'■■■• ■ 5 • POUNDING RAID§ ON GERMANY. .%lEESPREAD DAMAGE CAUSED. . * j ’ v : ' (United Press Association —Copyright.) LONDON, July 19. ’Xfjutji • unofficial reports have been reaching England lately of very con--siderablo damage in many of the great industrial centres of Western Germany as a result of the almost nightly raids of the Royal Air Force. Dusseldqrf, according to several reports, is ini, ruins, while Hamburg and Bremen sustained . immense damage. :Authoritative information concerning the damage to two of Germany’s principal railway s centres, which is contained'in''the Air Ministry bulletin, seiHfbh ,tb f ’'all&stfate the, effect that RjA-jF'/. .bombing is having on indus•tiiffly Germany. At least one-third of Muenster .■ and Aachen has been destroycd. or seriously damaged, says the. bulletin..;,,;. .. -‘'■Aabhon has been attacked previdftslyf! but the most important raid made during the night of July iO .and, 11, when terrific damage was done. Loads of high-Oxplosive homibts and 7000 incendiary bombs -were dropped. Some, of the biggest bombs carried by tho -Royal Air Force found their mark in tho city in good wdhtlier, when close observation was possible. Pilots’ reports have Since been confirmed by reconnaissance, and it is established that thisV particular raid was one of the most successful of the R.A.F, night attacks, says the bulletin. (“Good navigation ensured that almost every bomb reached its intended target'and the town was thoroughly plastered. * The damage was mostly in the-'centre," but ho part of the town escaped. Fire caused (widespread havoc, and many areas suffered Heavily from the blast. Craters in the railways', disorganised public services. There were three main areas of damage by high-explosive bombs and 1 a fire in the centre of the town in which are important .municipal and State buildings, c6mmercial houses and warehouses, shopping centres and residential quarters. These three sections, which' are close together, measure approximately 1100 yards by 700 yards, and 'cover approximately 30 per cent, of - tlie. town proper. • , About GO to 70 dent. »of'the buildings in each area were’ destroyed, and almost all the remainder damaged. tells tho same tale. The tqwnr was ’attacked in force on the niglifsidf July 7 and 8, and three times sihab.l^Again a large tonnage of the highrexplosive bombs and thousands of-incendiaries were dropped. Recbirnals,sauce has shown that very hpavy damage was done. Entire areas ivere completely burnt out, including industrial and residential buildings. A single heavy bomb devastated an area of more than 700 square yards, and another had ; a similar effect covering 600 yaMs square. : r . .IP‘These two areas had been deniol-

Med, and they: wfere surrounded, by Bitch'"largei’ - areas of buildings damaged by'ffire and blast. r 'r‘?Ofbtvr :districts’'hnvd- been heavily dhhVagM/ including 25,000 square yards between’ the railway and the Dort-hiuhd-'Ems Canal. In this section ma--j of damage has been done to an area of at" least 250,000 square yards. Aachen auid.Muerister are but two of the many Industrial centres of Western Germany -tvliich have received the heaviest Royal -Aii" (Force attacks' during the last five -Weeks;”—British Official Wireless.